Amendment Proposed that Allows Impeachment of President and VP by MDP
Photo: President’s Office
An amendment has been tabled at the Parliament with the intention of altering the number of votes needed to impeach the President and Vice President, exclusively relying on the votes of opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members of parliament.
Currently, the removal of the President and Vice-President necessitates a two-thirds majority in the parliament, equivalent to 58 out of 87 members.
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The proposed amendment, put forward by the MDP Parliamentary Group, seeks to redefine the total number of MPs following the resignation of certain members. Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau, the proponent of the amendment, argued that the resignation of seven members from the 19th Parliament necessitates a reassessment of the total number of members, asserting that it is now 80 rather than the previously considered 87.
In this scenario, only 54 votes would be needed to pass the motion, and the MDP currently holds 56 members in the parliamentary group.
Furthermore, the Social Affairs Committee has endorsed several amendments to the parliament regulation governing the impeachment of the President and Vice-President.
Among the notable changes, the debate duration on the issue has been extended from two to three hours under the new amendment. Additionally, the revised regulation stipulates that if the parliament receives a resolution for the removal of the President and Vice-President, a notice must be dispatched within two days. Subsequently, a parliament sitting should be convened to deliberate on the motion after a 14-day notice period.
The amended regulations also afford the President and Vice-President 30 minutes to present their defense, with the provision for appointing three lawyers to counter the charges. These legal representatives are permitted to appear before the committee and submit responses while the case is ongoing.
Significantly, the number of members in the committee has been reduced to seven, and it is no longer obligatory to include representatives from all parties in parliament, departing from the existing requirement of 11 members with representation from all parliamentary parties, as dictated by the current regulations.
