An amendment has been proposed to the Constitution which would require any foreign troops to seek parliamentary authorization before being active in country for any reason besides training activities.
An amendment has been proposed to the Constitution which would require any foreign troops to seek parliamentary authorization before being active in country for any reason besides training activities.
Amendments to the Constitution were proposed by ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP for Hulhudhoo Mohamed Shahid, which includes amendment of Article 251(c).
Article 251(c) of the Maldives Constitution currently states, "No part of the territory of the Maldives shall be used for foreign military purposes without the approval of the majority of the total membership of the People’s Majlis."
The proposed amendment states that permission to conduct military activities by any foreign military personnel in any area of Maldives must not be given under any agreement or otherwise without approval from parliament majority.
It further states that besides participating in military exercises under an agreement, foreign military personnel should not be granted authorization to be active in any form in Maldives territory without parliament majority approval.
While this article governing foreign military presence is proposed to be made more rigid, PNC has previously stated that it was against this article as it existed then for Indian military personnel to be active in Maldives to operate helicopters and Dornier flights.
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