The two parties have announced an intention to submit amendments to the law in relation to limiting political positions, number of MPS, as well as submitting an anti-defection bill.
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and The Democrats have announced that the two parties will be collaborating to propose amendments to the Constitution and the laws to limit the number of political posts that can be appointed in an administration, as well as the number of parliament members.
At the joint press conference held today, the two parties announced that they will be collaborating as the opposition to hold the current government accountable.
Speaking at the briefing, The Democrat's President Hassan Latheef shared details of some of the laws that the parties intended to submit amendments to.
Latheef said that they are presently working on drafting a bill to add an amendment to the Constitution to limit the number of parliamentarians. He said that this is being done to find an alternative to the current practice of increasing the number of parliamentarians for each election cycle.
Previously, Democrats' member Ilyas Labeeb, member of parliament for Hulhudhoo constituency, submitted a similar bill to parliament. However, the bill was rejected, not having receiving the endorsement of even MDP.
Latheef said that the two parties agreed that the number of parliamentarians must remain at a locked number, disallowing continued increase of constituencies.
Another point noted by Latheef as a shared concern is the high number of appointees to political positions in this administration.
He believes that the high number of political appointees poses a pressing issue when considering the economy of Maldives. He said that the two parties are of the belief that the total number of appointees must have an upper limit defined in the law, to apply regardless of which party is in office.
The parties further deliberated on submitting an anti-defection bill.
Counted together, the Democrats and MDP have 55 members currently serving in the parliament. This is a sufficient majority to pass bills and amend acts. However, amendments to the Constitution can only be put in effect with additional support from government aligned members.
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