Despite President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's wish to hold the swearing-in ceremony for his successor on November 11, it is no longer possible for the President-Elect to take the oath of office on the traditional date, Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath has said.
From 1968 to 2013, November 11 was the day that the new presidential term began in the Maldives. But the tradition changed in 2013 when a new president was not elected by the date. This was because the first round of the presidential election was annulled by the Supreme Court.
President Solih wanted to change the start of the presidential term to November 11 to revive the tradition. But Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath told Adhadhu on Wednesday that there was no legal path to do so without changing the constitution.
The constitution can be amended by a three-quarters majority of parliament, which is the votes of 66 MPs from the 87-member house. If a change is to be brought to the constitution, a full-house committee must review the amendment and public opinion must also be sought on a broad scale.
The other option for changing the date without amending the constitution would involve resignations, Riffath said. But this cannot be done either now, he said.
"If the posts of the President and Vice President are vacant, then the Speaker assumes office. In that circumstance, a new government must be formed in 60 days. There's no legal path to doing it even with resignations," Riffath said.
Article 101(a) of the constitution states that the presidential term is five years. Since President Solih took the oath of office on November 17, 2018, his term ends on November 17.
The problem arose because of delays in holding the second round of the presidential election in 2013. The first round took place on September 9, 2013 but the Supreme Court annulled the results. After that, the Elections Commission's (EC) efforts to hold the first round again proved unsuccessful and it eventually took place on November 9.
The commission's efforts failed because of various obstacles posed by the police on the grounds that a guideline imposed by the Supreme Court had not been followed.
Due to all the problems, President Abdulla Yameen was sworn in on November 17. Five years later, efforts were made for then-President-Elect Solih to take the oath of office on November 11. The issue was proposed to parliament and debated.
The parliamentary committee that studied the problem found that according to the minutes of the swearing-in ceremony signed by the heads of the three branches of state, President Abdulla Yameen's term began on November 17.
