Democrats MPs call for referendum on governance system

The Democrats MPs in the parliament on Tuesday called for a public referendum on the country's governance system before heading into the second round of elections on Saturday.

The Democrats MPs called for a referendum during the debate on reconstituting committees in Tuesday's session of the parliament.

Ilyas Labeeb, who contested the presidential election on behalf of The Democrats and won the third most votes, also made the remarks in his speech. 

Ilyas said no party can win the first round of any presidential election held since the 2008 constitution was drafted. He said the second round will be won by forming a coalition with different parties.

He believes this is a problem with the presidential system in Maldives. Therefore, he said, it is important to go to a referendum to see what the people think about the presidential system.

"It's always going to be a coalition, one party's agreements with the other during elections, and so on. I think it's time to clarify from the people once again how people view the presidential system," Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas said.

He said it was not the leaders of the political parties who had to decide on this, but the people.

Hassan Afeef, MP from Villufushi constituency, believes that although there is a presidential system in the Maldives, the three powers operate according to the parliamentary system. Citing an example, he said that it is not the government's job in a presidential system to frame laws, but it is for parliament to do so. 

Afeef said that if the current practice is in accordance with the principles of a parliamentary system, then the system of governance has to be changed. He believes that is what the people see in the recently concluded elections. 

Maafannu Central MP Ibrahim Rasheed also said that the system of government should be changed to a parliamentary system. He said the past five years have seen the government “sinking” despite their power in parliament, government and state.

Ibrahim Rasheed said the laws and regulations are not composed in such a way that the three powers are separated.

He also criticised the MDP, which came second in the election. He questioned whether the MDP is not ashamed of the party's request to form a coalition after making obscene remarks against the founder of The Democrats.

“I have witnessed the dirty things shouted at President Nasheed in this parliament and now I wonder if they are not ashamed to beg him to join them,” Rasheed said.

Maafannu North MP Imthiyaz Fahumy also criticised the MDP for not winning the election because of “over confidence and pride”.

"Who would have thought that the honourable President of MDP, who leads the government with the super majority in the Parliament of the People's Majlis, and the people in power would be relegated to the second position in the elections," Imthiyaz said.

He said the ruling party’s 39% in the election indicated that President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih did not have the support of the people.

"It means that there is no support, no trust or love from the people. The only votes he got were bought," he said.

Provisional results of the Saturday's election show main opposition PPM-PNC's Dr Mohamed Muizz leading the polls with 46%, while President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih secured 39%. 

To win outright, a candidate needs more than 50% of the votes. From the preliminary results, it is certain that a runoff between the top two contenders will take place on September 30.