Amendment against increasing number of MPs fails to garner MPs

At the parliament sitting held today, several MPs have expressed views against an amendment proposed to the Constitution to prevent increasing the number of MPs to exceed 77.

This amendment to Articles 71 and 72 of the Constitution was proposed by Kudahuvadhoo MP Ahmed Amir.

The amendment proposed to Article 71 (a) states that the number of MPs, based on the administrative divisions and electoral constituencies, should be 77.

Amir also proposed an amendment to Article 72 (a) of the Constitution, which states that the electoral constituencies determined when MPs were elected on 28 May, 2009, shall be determined as separate electoral constituencies, and MPs should be elected to represent each of these administrative divisions.

Amir also proposed to remove Article 72 (c) of the Constitution.

Article 71 (a) presently states that the membership of the parliament shall be determined such that two members represent the first five thousand residents registered for each administrative division or two members for administrative divisions with less than five thousand residents; and where the residents registered to an administrative division exceed five thousand residents, one additional member for each group of five thousand residents in excess of the first five thousand.

While presenting these amendments to the parliament, Amir said that since the population of the Maldives is about 400,000, increasing the number of MPs elected to the parliament is not acceptable.

He said that increasing the number of MPs would pose economic and financial challenges for the country.

Speaking on the amendment proposed by Amir, Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed stressed the importance, in a democracy, of ensuring that the people are well represented in the parliament.

He said that it would not be wise to limit the number of MPs in order to prevent financial difficulties for the State, and that the best way to proceed would be to discuss the issue to arrive a consensus.

Referring to the amendment proposed by Amir, Hulhuhenveyru MP Reeko Moosa Manik said that now is not the most ideal time to amend the Constitution, and that limiting the number of MPs is also not acceptable.

Galolhu-South MP Ahmed Mahloof said that he supports the purpose of the amendment proposed by Amir, but that he does not support limiting the number of MPs based on a certain proportion, and that he also does not believe that the Constitution requires amendment.

He said that all MPs should discuss the matter, in order to find a formula to determine how the people are represented at the parliament.