The parliament, on Tuesday, rejected the amendment proposing to place a limit on the total number of parliamentarians.
Out of a total of 71 members, 44 voted against approving the amendment, 26 voted in favour and one member cast a neutral vote.
The amendment to Act 71 and 72 of the constitution was submitted by Nilandhoo MP Dr Abdulla Khaleel who was also formerly the Secretary General of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
The Elections Commission (EC) recently added two constituencies to the capital city of Male’ to reflect increases in population. With this addition, there will be 15 MPs dedicated to Male' and a total of 87 lawmakers in the Parliament.
Several individuals were voicing concern over the steady increase in the total number of parliamentarians during each presidential term when the amendment to cap this amount was proposed.
According to the law, two MPs will be assigned to populations of 5,000 or less and another lawmaker will be assigned for each additional 5,000 people in a constituency.
While an amendment to the Immigration Act was also rejected, the parliament repealed the amendment made to the Constitution in 2015, which allows foreign entities to own Maldivian land.
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