Ungoofaaru MP Waheed submitted an emergency motion to parliament in relation to the continued failure to ratify the amendment to the General Elections Act stipulating the postponement of the parliamentary elections to ten days after the end of Ramadan.
An emergency motion has been submitted to parliament regarding the delay in ratification of the amendment to the General Elections Act stipulating the postponement of the parliamentary elections to ten days after the end of Ramadan.
Ungoofaaru constituency MP Mohamed Waheed of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) submitted the motion today, stating that the bill had been sent to the President for ratification of February 12 and yet remains unratified to date.
The emergency motion states that while over a week has passed since the bill was sent, the people have not been given any indication of whether the bill will be ratified or not.
It further noted that even after the amended bill had been submitted for ratification, the President had continued to state in speeches that the parliamentary elections will be held on March 17. Waheed alleged that the government is acting in this manner for personal gain.
The motion also noted that the bill was passed with support from government aligned MPs as well, saying that non-ratification would cause inconvenience to the citizens.
Parliament has accepted this emergency motion.
The amendment submitted to the General Elections Act by MDP MP Mohamed Shifau was passed with the vote of 46 members. While 3 members voted against the amendment, most government aligned MPS abstained from voting.
The amendment adds clauses to Article 43 of the General Elections Act. The clauses state that no elections should be held within the month of Ramadan. Should an election date fall in Ramadan, it must be delayed to a date ten days after the conclusion of the month.
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