Fayyaz says against parliamentary system change; Muizz should have chance to govern
Fayyaz said that the people have elected their leader for the next five years in accordance with the principles of democracy.
MDP should not be the party that effectively overturns the Maldivian people's wishes when they had just elected their president, for the sake of changing the system of governance from existing presidential to parliamentary, the ruling party's chairperson Fayyaz Ismail said on Sunday.
The outgoing economic minister made the remarks in a message on a Whatsapp group of MDP's national council members. Fayyaz's remarks came after former MDP President Mohamed Nasheed, who recently left the party after differences of opinion, offered to rejoin the party.
Fayyaz said that the people have elected their leader for the next five years in accordance with the principles of democracy. He said the MDP should not be a party that overturns the decision of the people.
"The people's decision should not be ignored by the name of parliamentary system. [President-elect Dr Mohamed] Muizzu should be given a chance. No to parliamentary," Fayyaz's message read.
Some other members of the group who spoke on the matter also expressed their disapproval of the parliament system. It is learned that a meeting of the MDP national council will be held soon to decide its stand on the proposed referendum.
Parliament had in late September sent to the Elections Commission a resolution seeking a referendum on the system of governance in Maldives by October 30.
The Elections Commission (EC), which has tentatively set October 29 as the date for the referendum, has since requested the parliament to determine and provide the question to be asked of the people in the public referendum seeking views on changing the country's governance system.
Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, a long-time advocate of changing the existing presidential system to a parliamentary system, was set to submit a proposal to the parliament last week to determine the wording on the ballot paper to be used in the referendum on the governance system in Maldives, as well as a paper on the proposed system of governance.
However, the sitting was called off after the parliament failed to meet the quorum.
Nasheed, who has been working against MDP despite having previously served as the party’s president, proposed on Sunday that he would rejoin MDP if half of the party's national council members approve.
Nasheed made the proposal in a message to Fayyaz on Sunday. Fayyaz sent the message to the MDP national council WhatsApp group and he confirmed to Atoll Times that it was authentic.
Opposition PPM-PNC candidate Dr Mohamed Muizz, who advocates for stronger ties with China, defeated incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, known for his pro-India stance, in the second round of the presidential election held on Saturday, according to provisional results.
With all 584 ballot boxes now counted, Muizz leads the polls with 126,499 votes or 53,54%, while President Solih received 108,735 or 46.22% votes.
Muizz will be sworn in as president on November 11.
