President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the anti-defection bill to disqualify MPs who switch parties after election on party tickets.
The President's Office website said the bill had been ratified by President Muizzu and had been published in the government gazette.
The bill was passed with 33 votes in favour and six votes against it on April 1 and was sent to the President's Office via the Government E-letter Management System (GEMS).
According to the Constitution, the President must decide whether to ratify a bill or send it back to the Parliament within 15 days of receipt to the President's Office.
Therefore, the deadline for President Muizzu to decide on the bill expired today.
President Muizzu ratified the bill after the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) raised a dispute over the deadline to decide on the bill. The PNC claimed that the hard copy of the bill was received by the President's Office on April 7.
The anti-defection bill is included in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s legislative agenda for the ongoing 19th session of the Parliament.
The disqualification of MPs was specified in Article 3 of the anti-defection bill. If an MP who was elected on a political party ticket leaves the party or changes to a different party, the MP would have to resign.
MPs would have the discretion to file a court case within seven days. If the court rules against the MP and Parliament is informed of the decision by the EC, the MP would have to resign.
