Power to amend constitution only with the people: Nasheed

The power to amend the Constitution lies directly with the people, former President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

Expressing his views regarding the ongoing legal debate surrounding the petition submitted to the Supreme Court challenging the recent anti-defection amendment to the Constitution, Nasheed took to X saying that he believes the power lies with the public.

He also said a referendum would be needed to change the constitution.

However, The Democrats, a political party created with Nasheed's initiative initially supported the petition challenging the amendment. Since then, the party had withdrawn its support, and issued a statement announcing the change of stance.

The party's new president Imthiyaz Fahmy said in an earlier post on X that only the Parliament has the power to make and amend the Constitution.

However, some members of the party told Mihuaru that this is not the view of the entire party. According to these sources, the party was in support of the petition when they were under Hassan Latheef's leadership. That decision still remains so, the party members reportedly said.

The Attorney General's Office also said in court that the Supreme Court does not have the authority hear such cases. Speaking on the matter on behalf of the Attorney General's Office, lawyer Fathimath Haleem said while the court does not have the jurisdiction to hear cases challenging the constitution, members of the public have the right to go to the court if an article within the constitution affects them.

According to Fathimath the authority of the court is to interpret the Constitution.

Opposition party MDP, which has formally supported the claim in court, rejected this argument. MDP's lawyer Anas Abdul Sattar said the parliament's role is to amend, but not to shatter the Constitution.

He claimed that the parliament could only amend the Constitution such that the fundamental characteristics of it remain the same, and that any amendment that extends beyond this power can be heart at the Supreme Court as a judicial review case.

The Supreme Court ruled to continue hearings in the case, and to rule on the matter later on during the verdict stage.