Adeeb thanks parties that voted in favour of amendment to Constitution

Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb has, on Twitter, thanked the parties that voted in favour of the Amendment Bill to the Constitution proposing to restrict the age for running for president and vice president to between 30 and 65.

Adeeb’s tweet came moments after the bill was passed today, with 78 votes in favour and two 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).

Adeeb said, “Thank u HEP Yameen, for rewriting the history of Maldives by empowering Youth, Thank u PPM, MDA, MDP & JP.”

Thank u HEP Yameen , for rewriting the history of Maldives by empowering Youth, Thank u PPM, MDA, MDP & JP.

— Ahmed Adeeb (@Ahmed_Adeeb) June 24, 2015

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.