Supreme Court orders on Thursday to halt implementing the amendments made to the parliament regulations regarding removal of the president and the vice president from office.
According to the Constitution of Maldives, the president and vice president of the country can be dismissed from the position if two-thirds of the lawmakers vote in approval of the motion. However, the amendment made to this regulation last year stipulated that when votes were being counted, seats that were vacant would not be included.
This change allows for the president to be removed from his position with the combined votes of the current Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) legislators and The Democrats legislators. The government have asked the Supreme Court to rescind the amendment, and has sought an interim injunction to stay the implementation of the amendment.
Three judges from the five-judge bench of the apex court said that in cases where the state has alleged that the amendment to the rules of parliament on how to count the number of members is unconstitutional, the implementation of the amendment should be stayed. The court added that since the total number of members was counted earlier as per the provisions of the Constitution, the parliament should continue with its earlier practice till the court takes a decision on the matter.
"This is a situation where an interim order has to be passed in the interest of public interest," Justice Dr. Azmiraldha Zahir, Justice Husnu Suood and Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir said while passing the ruling.
The three judges, in their order, stayed the implementation of the amendment.
Justice Aisha Shujoon Mohamed and Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim's opinion is that there is no need to pass an interim order in the case. The reason cited by the two judges is the amount of legislators to pass a motion like this is not accounted for in the parliament currently, and that the state submitted the matter to the court a month after the amendment was passed. They said the case was not based solely on the total number of members.
According to the opinion, the state had sought an interim injunction on the basis of a potential situation that may arise in the future. Therefore, there is no situation where an interim order should be issued without a word from the parliament that responds to the matter, they said.
"This appears to be a proposal submitted on the possibility that a situation may arise in which the constitution may be violated in the future,” the differed opinion stated.
The amendment to the rules of the parliament comes in the wake of seven vacant seats in parliament with the new government. Earlier, 58 votes were needed to remove the president and vice-president from their positions. However, under the new amendment, the president can be removed by a vote of 53 members. MDP currently has 42 lawmakers, and there is a possibility that it could be have the required amount of voters if The Democrats side with them.
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