Amendment of Constitution needs to have stricter restrictions: Gasim

Jumhoori Party leader and MP for Maamigili constituency Gasim Ibrahim has said that the the current stipulations which allow constitutional amendments with a parliamentary super majority need to be changed.

Article 261 of the Maldives' Constitution says that constitutional amendments can be brought through the votes of three fourth of the total number of parliamentarians.

In both the current and previous parliaments, three fourth of the parliament seats were held by a single political party, giving them the authority to bring changes to the Constitution if desired.

Speaking in today's parliamentary sitting, Gasim said that as the Constitution marks its 16th anniversary today, two major changes have been brought to it, and on both occasions, the change had been brought relatively easily.

He reminded that previously, changing the constitution had not been this easy to do, with the Special Majlis needing to be convened for any such changes.

"Instead of the easy path to constitutional amendments the parliament currently has, there has to be a mechanism introduced where affecting such a change is more difficult to do," Gasim opined.

Gasim cautioned that if any political party that gains 75 percent of parliament seats could change the constitution, then this may lead to negative outcomes. He said that even the formation of a special majlis may not prevent such wrongs from occurring, but there would be more steps involved in such a situation.

"Based on a specific thought that comes to some, a fundamental right or articles concerning an Islamic principle included in the Constitution could be changed," Gasim warned.

One of the major changes brought to the Constitution was during the 18th Parliament, when it was arranged for foreigners to own land in Maldives for a period of 99 years. However, the following 19th Parliament with a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) majority had revoked this article.

Later, the MDP majority parliament had brought changes to the articles concerning the decentralization system. They increased council terms from three years to five years.

The legislative agenda of ruling People's National Congress (PNC), which currently holds parliamentary super majority, also had major constitutional amendments included. This includes changing the composition of the Judicial Service Commission and capping parliamentarian numbers.