Parliament Passes Bill to Merge Presidential and Parliamentary Elections

Parliament today passed a government-backed bill to amend the Constitution to merge presidential and parliamentary elections and shorten the term of the current legislature.

The bill was approved with 72 votes in favour and one vote against. It was endorsed without amendment yesterday by the Independent Institutions Committee following a brief meeting lasting around five minutes.

The legislation was proposed by ruling party lawmaker Ibrahim Falah, a parliamentary group leader of the People’s National Congress (PNC). It seeks to align future parliamentary elections with presidential elections and to change the date of the first sitting of a newly elected parliament to December.

If enacted, the amendment would reduce the term of the current 20th Parliament by six months, with its mandate set to expire on 1 December 2028. The bill also requires that all administrative arrangements for the new parliament be completed before that date.

The move comes as the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) has said that any constitutional amendments would need to be ratified by 18 February in order for a public referendum on merging the two national elections to be held alongside the upcoming local council elections.

The government has stated its intention to hold the referendum concurrently with the local council polls scheduled for 4 April.

Under the proposed changes, parliamentary elections would thereafter be held at the same time as presidential elections, a shift the government says would streamline the electoral calendar. Critics, however, have raised concerns about the reduction of the current parliament’s term, though no amendments were made to the bill during its passage.