The government has proposed to amend the Constitution to merge the parliamentary and presidential elections and shorten the term of the current parliament session.
The bill was proposed by ruling People's National Congress (PNC) parliamentary group leader Ibrahim Falah. It states that both the president and MPs must be chosen during the same election.
The bill proposes to change the date of the first sitting of the newly elected parliament to December 1. This will reduce the term of the current 20th session of the People's Majlis by six months.
President Mohamed Muizzu earlier said the amendment will be introduced before the end of the sittings in 2025. However, the bill was not proposed by the time the parliament went on recess.
An extraordinary sitting of the parliament has been scheduled to be held this morning on the request of PNC. The bill to merge the two elections is on the agenda. Further extraordinary sittings are expected to be held this month to pass the bill.
Muizzu earlier said this constitution amendment can only implemented after a public referendum. Attorney General (AG) Ahmed Usham told Adhadhu that the referendum will be announced when the bill is sent to the President for ratification.
He said bill will be invalidated if the people do not support the changes.
If the bill passes, parliamentary and presidential elections will be held together in 2028. Muizzu is the only candidate confirmed to contest the election so far.
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has not officially taken a stand on merging the two elections. But the party is unlikely to support Muizzu's proposal.
However, former President Mohamed Nasheed supported the proposal in a social media post on Sunday (January 4).
