Muizzu Proposes to Hold Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Together

President Dr Mohamed Muizzu said today that he will submit a bill to the parliament to combine and hold the presidential and parliamentary elections at the same time.

In his presidential address at the opening ceremony of the Parliament this year, the President said he intends to introduce important amendments to the Constitution this year. This includes holding a people’s referendum vote on two issues; holding the two elections together; and amending the constitution to allow the presidential term to begin on November 11. Additionally, he plans to amend how the number of parliamentarians are decided as well. The President also said that the Maldives International Financial Services Authority Bill will be introduced in the Parliament during the current session to develop a New Land bill, the Real Estate Business Bill and the Housing Bill, as well as the legal framework for the commencement of international financial services in the Maldives.

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Among other things that will be tabled in parliament are important amendments to the Anti-Corruption Act, Code of Criminal Procedure and Criminal Procedure Act to curb corruption, he said. The government is in the process of drafting a bill on asset recovery to get the same value of the state assets acquired by various individuals at throwaway prices and to recover the state assets acquired illegally by different persons. He said the government is planning to introduce this bill to the parliament this year as well.

The President noted that in order to strengthen the criminal justice system in the Maldives, amendments to the Maldives Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code will already be amended to strengthen the existing bail system in the Maldives.

“In the past one year, 35 bills have been introduced in parliament to improve the country’s affairs. Of these, 30 bills have been passed by parliament. This includes amendments to 21 laws, eight completely new bills and one constitutional amendment bill,” he said in Dhivehi while addressing the parliament.

The President also noted the constitutional amendments made to prevent the permanent presence of foreign troops in the Maldives, the constitutional amendment that required the approval of the parliament before doing anything that would undermine the territory of the Maldives, and the amendments made to the constitution to put an end to the current practice of defection after being elected.

He also said that in order to strengthen the criminal justice system, there is a need to increase the amount of legal assistance available in criminal cases and for this, the government has decided to set up a state defence lawyers’ office called the “Public Defenders’ Office”.

“In advanced independent democracies, a state defence lawyers’ office called the ‘Public Defenders’ Office’ has been established. In criminal cases, this office appoints defence lawyers for those who do not have the financial wherewithal to hire lawyers on their own. The system should be structured so that every accused in criminal cases gets the help of a lawyer,” he said.

Giving more details, he said he believed that the criminal justice system could be improved if a public defender’s office could be set up with lawyers who were specialised in providing legal assistance in criminal cases. He also said that a special bill on setting up the Public Defenders Office will be introduced this year and the system will be put in place.