Democrats drops govt system referendum in PPM-PNC proposal
“I don't believe it can be done without President Yameen, and not unless he is in a position to talk about it,” Latheef said.
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail,
Ahmed Sadhoof Moosa
The Democrats has dropped holding a referendum on changing the system of governance from presidential to parliamentary in its proposal to the main opposition PPM-PNC in their negotiations on forming a coalition for the second round of the presidential election, but has only conditioned a share in a potential PPM-PNC government.
The proposal was made at the Democrats interim council meeting held on Monday evening to decide how to proceed in the second round.
Discussions are underway with the PPM-PNC, which won the first round of the election, and the MDP, which came second in the first round of the election, to form a coalition in the second round.
The conditions proposed in a resolution passed at the council meeting are:
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If the MDP agrees before Wednesday to hold a referendum on the governance system before the September 30 presidential runoff, the Democrats will sign an agreement with the ruling party
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See if PPM-PNC will agree to sign a document before Wednesday outlining the Democrats share in the government and the extent to which their policies will be included in the government
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If the two parties do not agree on any of these, Democrats will not support any party in the second round
The Democrats are in talks with both the MDP and PPM about forming a coalition in the second round:
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The Democrats initially conditioned both parties to hold a referendum on governance system on September 25 -- four days before the presidential runoff on September 30
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Negotiations with PPM-PNC have stalled as they do not want to sign a document
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MDP responded to the Democrats with a counter proposal to hold the referendum within the current presidential term but after the election
After Monday evening’s council meeting, The Democrats' interim chairman and Henveiru West MP Hassan Latheef told reporters that there was no point in discussing a referendum with the PPM without former President Abdulla Yameen, who is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence.
“I don't believe it can be done without President Yameen, and not unless he is in a position to talk about it,” Latheef said.
MDP presidential candidate President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih has also agreed to hold a systematic vote before the end of the current presidential term. However, the vote will be taken after the second round of the presidential election.
