Election alignment bill passes committee without changes
The bill will likely be put to a vote in People’s Majlis on Tuesday.
A bill seeking to amend the Constitution to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on the same date was approved without changes by a parliamentary committee on Monday.
The bill was tabled while Parliament was in recess and referred to the Independent Institutions Committee on 5 January for review. The committee met on Monday and agreed to pass the bill as proposed.
The meeting lasted about five minutes. Committee chair Hussain Riza Adam said the committee concluded its review without proposing amendments.
The bill will likely be put to a vote in People’s Majlis on Tuesday.
Moved by PNC Parliamentary Group Leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah, the bill proposes an addition to Article 72 of the Constitution to require elections for members of Parliament to be held concurrently with presidential elections.
If passed and brought into force, the amendment would require the 2028 presidential election and the 2029 parliamentary election to be held on the same date. The bill also proposes to shorten the current parliamentary term to end in December 2028.
During debate, Falah said implementation would follow a public referendum to be held alongside the upcoming council elections.
As part of its review, the committee heard submissions from political parties, the Elections Commission, and Attorney General Ahmed Usham.
