President wants to hold parliament polls during Ramadan
"We are discussing the action to be taken”.
By
Shahudha Mohamed
President Mohammed Muizzu stated on Monday that he wants to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections during the fasting month, despite the parliament passing the bill which is awaiting his ratification.
The President made the remarks at a rally in Addu during his visit to the southern atolls with his ministers.
Asking for the government to be given a majority in the parliamentary elections, he said the voting would be held on March 17.
Parliament passed an amendment to the General Elections Act last Sunday to hold parliamentary elections after the end of Ramadan. Parliament confirmed to Atoll Times that the bill was sent to the President's Office for ratification the following day.
A week has passed since then and the President has not yet ratified the bill. Some government officials have informally told Atoll Times that the government does not want to postpone the parliamentary elections. Therefore, the bill is unlikely to be ratified by the President.
MDP has also expressed concern over the delay in passing the bill.
"We don't think the president might be so ignorant. When parliament passed a bill that would allow more people to participate in voting in an election to decide the future course of action in the country, we thought the president would do it [ratify]," Fayyaz told Atoll Times on Sunday.
"We are discussing the action to be taken”.
According to the Constitution:
-
Once Parliament passes a bill and sends it to the President for ratification, the President has 15 days to ratify it
-
The bill must be returned to Parliament within that period for reconsideration or for consideration of any amendment the President sees fit to make to the bill; If it is not sent to Parliament within that period, it shall be deemed to have been ratified and shall be published in the Government Gazette
-
If the Bill is passed with the support of the total members of the Parliament without making any changes to the Bill after it has been sent back to parliament, the President must ratify it
The majority MDP and Democrats have said that the bill will be passed as it is, even if it is sent back to parliament. The two parties have 54 members.
When the bill was first introduced in parliament, the ruling PNC initially said that it would not mind holding elections after the month of Ramadan. However, when the bill was debated in parliament, the party members refused to postpone the election.
The bill passed with 46 votes in favour out of the 49 present. Three members who left the MDP and later signed up for the PNC voted against the bill. They are:
-
Kurendhoo Constituency Member Abdulgani Abdul Hakeem
-
Mahchangolhi South Constituency Member Ahmed Haitham
-
Mathiveri Constituency Member Hassan Zareer
The Election Commission has now decided to hold the parliamentary elections on March 17. It will be the first week of the fasting month. The amendment was made to hold elections 10 days after the end of the fasting month. If that happens, the parliamentary elections will be held on April 21 or 22.
