Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated last night that combining two elections for the sake of lowering cost to the state is something that should never be done and that it would bring about instability to the system.
While speaking at MDP's political hub, Solih described the change to the Constitution as "a major coup" and also shared the reasons as to why the party believes the Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election should not be combined.
As per Solih, it would silence the voices of the people and move the nation ever closer to a dictatorship.
While questioning how the amendment to the Constitution was carried out, Solih said that the Constitution was created 18 years ago in a transparent manner.
Solih, who was a part of the Draft Committee the constitutional assembly at the time, stated that with the amendment efforts which began around 25 years ago during the final term of then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the work to amend the Constitution began at that time as it became necessary to move Maldives into a modern democracy.
Solih said that a constitutional assembly (the People’s Special Majlis) was formed after a draft of the Constitution was written up. He also said that after the draft had been approved by Gayoom and sent in, a draft from lawyers had been sent as well.
Solih said that the effort to amend the Constitution began at that point.
"Our first debate covered how the Constitution would be designed. It covered what Maldives is, what are Maldives' borders, what are basic rights, how to govern, how laws would be brought about, how the judiciary would be designed, whether independent institutions were necessary."
As per Solih, all opinions were sent to the Draft Committee afterwards. The committee had about 24 members including Solih, with the draft being put together after using the aforementioned as a foundation, with an additional draft being drawn up after opinions from the public were also taken into consideration.
According to Solih, after the draft was submitted to the assembly, every part of the draft was debated on, with amendments submitted as well.
"If the amendments do not get past the voting stage, we go back to debating as to how the Article should be drafted. How much freedom should journalism have. How the judiciary is formed. It is sent to the Draft Committee for debate if it does not pass. Every Article was passed until we have our current Constitution which was passed with 301 Articles."
Solih went on to say that even though the constitutional assembly had around 28 members, the articles were passed with the support of the other Parliament members. He said that this was possible due to the freedom the members had to debate as needed and to vote whether they agree with each other.
"If that were not the case, we would not see the Constitution today as it is."
Solih said that once the Constitution had passed and was sent to Gayoom for ratification, quite a number of days passed without it being ratified, with it finally being ratified after a number of protests.
While gesturing to the aforementioned, Solih said that many questions had formed regarding the amendment process of the Constitution in regards to combining two elections. He also said that the committee had debated on the matter for just 15 minutes at Parliament before it was passed, with Solih criticizing this process.
And so, combining two elections for the sake of lowering cost to the state is something that should never be done. We need to identify the instability it would bring about to the system.Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih
While highlighting as to how the Constitution can be amended, Solih said that after it was passed in Parliament, there are amendments that are to reach the public before it can be ratified. However, Solih stated that the government is conducting this process "in secrecy".
"These are important matters. The Constitution is written as such due to significant reasons. Such a matter has been conducted in secrecy."
Solih expressed his criticism by stating that with the combining of both elections, the Parliamentary term which has been elected for five years will see a reduction.
Solih continued, saying that if the Constitution is to be amended, a process in putting together public opinion regarding the amendments is to be documented, it is to be debated on and consultation gathered from people in the field.
Solih stated that the citizens are currently in the dark regarding the matter, with the government stating that the elections are being combined to save MVR 50 million. However, Solih said that around MVR 60 million for an election over the course of five years is not much of an expense, with MDP in opposition over such reasons.
"MDP is coming out in opposition in light of these reasons."
The Elections Commission (EC) has decided to hold a referendum on 4th April as to whether the Presidential Election and the Parliamentary Election should be combined and held together.
