Parliament accepts govt system referendum motion
Democrats MP Ali Azim then moved that the resolution be referred to a committee of the whole house for consideration.
Parliament on Tuesday accepted a motion calling for a referendum on changing the system of governance from presidential to parliamentary.
Thirty-five MPs in attendance unanimously voted to accept the motion submitted by Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, who represents speaker Mohamed Nasheed's Democrats party.
Democrats MP Ali Azim then moved that the resolution be referred to a committee of the whole house for consideration. The motion was supported by MDP MP Ali Niyzaz from Hulhumale constituency.
In an August 2007 referendum, the Maldivian people opted for a presidential over a parliamentary system. The then president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom supported the presidential system while the MDP and speaker Mohamed Nasheed supported the parliamentary system.
The result of the 2007 referendum:
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Presidential system - 95,619 votes (62.04%)
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Parliamentary system - 58,504 votes (37.96%)
Meanwhile, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih told reporters on Monday that he had discussed with Nasheed and proposed to hold the referendum within the current presidential term but after the presidential runoff on September 30.
The Democrats, whose candidate MP Ilyas Labeeb finished third in the first round of the presidential election September 9 with about 15,000 votes, adopted a resolution on Monday to not support any party in the second round of the presidential election if they do not agree to the party's conditions by Wednesday.
The resolution was moved by former President's Office Minister Mohamed Shifaz at the Democrats interim council meeting on Monday evening.
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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 has conditioned a referendum on governance system on September 25 -- four days before the presidential runoff on September 30 -- for a coalition
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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
