Nasheed Proposes that Constitution Be Changed So That Presidents Are Elected With 30% of Votes

Majlis Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, also the president of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party, has decided to submit a motion to change the Constitutional articles which determines how the President is elected.

Speaker Nashed has proposed making significant amendments to the Constitution. In addition to changing the system of government, he has proposed making amendments to the Constitutional articles which determine how the President is elected.

At present, the Constitution declares that the President shall be elected by over fifty percent of the votes. If no candidate obtains such majority, a run-off election must be held iwthin 21 days of the first election; the run-off election should be contested only by the two candidates who had received the highest number of votes in the first election.

Speaker Nasheed proposed to amend the Constitution to require that the President would be elected by obtaining more than 30 percent of the votes. If none of the candidates obtain that many votes, the candidates with the highest number of votes would contest against each other in a run-off election.

Speaker Nasheed proposed that his party, the MDP, hold a congress prior to the presidential primaries. He intend for the congress to pass a motion to amend the Constitution as per his propositions, and for a vote to be taken on changing the Maldives' system of government.

Speaker Nasheed has been a vocal proponent of converting the Maldivian system of government from a presidential to a parliamentary system.