Amendment allows President's impeachment for MDP

An amendment has been proposed to the parliament to allow the President to be impeached only through the votes of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members of parliament.

The removal of the President and Vice-President can be passed by a two-thirds majority of the parliament, which is 58 out of 87 members.

The MDP Parliamentary Group proposed an amendment to change the way the total number of MPs is determined due to the resignation of some MPs.

Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau filed the amendment, stating that seven members of the 19th Parliament had resigned, and it was unlawful to consider the total number of members as 87.

MP Shifau submitted an amendment to the parliament's General Committee to set the current number of parliament members at 80.

If the amendment is passed, the President and Vice-President can be removed without the current majority in MDP. In such a situation, only 54 votes are required to pass the motion, and MDP currently has 56 members in the parliamentary group.

In addition, the Social Affairs Committee approved some amendments to the article in the parliament regulation that allows the impeachment of the President and Vice-President.

With the new amendment, the debate on the issue, which was earlier scheduled for two hours, has been extended to three hours.

According to the amendment, if parliament receives a resolution to remove the President and Vice-President, a notice will have to be sent within two days, and a parliament sitting should be convened to proceed with the motion after a 14-day notice from that date.

With the new amendment, the debate on the issue, which was earlier scheduled for two hours, has been extended to three hours.

According to the amendment, the President and Vice-President have 30 minutes to defend themselves, while three lawyers can be appointed to defend against the charges. They will be allowed to appear before the committee and file their replies even as the case is still ongoing.

The new amendment reduces the number of members of the committee to seven. It is no longer mandatory to include all parties in the committee.

According to the current regulations, the 11 members of the committee should be represented by all parties in parliament.