Parliament Debates Amendment to Synchronise Parliamentary and Presidential Elections

The government has submitted a bill to parliament seeking to amend the constitution to allow parliamentary and presidential elections to be held at the same time, a move that would shorten the current parliamentary term by six months.

The bill was presented during today’s special parliamentary session by the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) majority leader and Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah. It proposes that the election of members of parliament be conducted in conjunction with the presidential election.

Under the proposed amendment, the first sitting of a newly elected parliament would be moved to 1 December. This change would reduce the term of the current 20th Parliament by six months. The bill also states that all administrative arrangements for the new parliament must be completed before that date.

President Mohamed Muizzu had announced in August that the government intended to introduce the constitutional amendment during the final session of last year. However, parliament concluded its work for the year without taking up the proposal.

The president has previously said that any constitutional change to merge the two elections would require approval through a public referendum.

According to some media reports, the government is aiming to hold the referendum alongside the local council elections scheduled for 4 April. Under existing law, a referendum must be held no sooner than 45 days and no later than 90 days after a request is submitted. Public awareness activities are also required to be conducted within this timeframe.

Speaking during the debate, MP Falah said the proposed reduction in the parliamentary term would result in a financial loss for individual members, estimating the cost at MVR 450,000 per MP. However, he said the move would lead to overall savings of between MVR 60 million and MVR 80 million for the state.