Parliament votes to seek system change referendum before Oct. 30

The Parliament, on Wednesday, passed the resolution submitted by Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, calling for a constitutional referendum on changing the system of governance in Maldives.

Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, a member of the Democrats, had submitted the resolution which calls for a constitutional referendum to decide on changing the system of governance in Maldives, from a presidential system to a parliamentary system, on September 12.

It had originally called for a referendum to be held before November 30, but Ilyas later amended the resolution to change the deadline to October 30.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Parliament voted to pass the resolution with the unanimous vote of 35 MPs, including members of the ruling MDP.

No one took part in the debate when the resolution was presented to the Parliament floor, before the vote was taken.

The vote came shortly after the Whole House Committee voted to pass the resolution, with the unanimous vote of 31 MPs.