Bill on restricting age for qualification as president passed

The Amendment Bill to the Constitution proposing to restrict the age for running for president and vice president to between 30 and 65, has been passed by the parliament.

The first amendment to the Constitution was passed with 77 votes in favour and two votes against.

The bill received votes in favour by MPs representing the government coalition, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), as well as the opposition, Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP).

Amendments to the Constitution require votes in favour by three-fourth of the parliament, or 64 out of 85 MPs.

The bill was submitted to the parliament by Hoarafushi MP Mohamed Ismail.

Prior to this, there was no upper age limit for running for president. Article 109 of the Constitution stated that a person elected as president shall be at least of 35 years of age. As for the vice president, Article 112 stated that the qualifications shall be the same as those for the president.

On Sunday, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is serving a 13-year prison sentence, was transferred to house arrest for three days. The move was followed by rumours that this was facilitated in exchange for MPs of MDP voting in favour of this bill.