The Democrats Propose Constitutional Amendment for Recall Votes

The Democrats have tabled a legislature aimed at revising the Constitution to enable recall votes, triggered by petitions from a specified portion of the electorate seeking the removal of their parliamentary representative.

Presented yesterday, the proposed amendment to Article 27 of the Constitution was put forth by Hassan Latheef, the president of the Democrats and the parliamentary representative for West Henveiru constituency.

The amendment introduces an additional clause to Article 27 outlining scenarios under which parliamentarians could lose their seats. These include:

Voluntary departure from the party by a parliamentarian elected on a party ticket, or joining another party.

Transition from independent candidacy to affiliation with a political party.

Expulsion from the party during the term for breaching party discipline, as per the party’s internal regulations.

Removal by the majority of the constituency’s voting population in a recall election, following the parliament’s decision to conduct such an election upon review of a petition signed by a specific percentage of the constituency’s voters seeking the parliamentarian’s removal.

This proposal follows closely on the heels of the anti-defection bill introduced last month by the Democrats’ ally, the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).