MDP's council united in opposition of parliamentary system

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s national council decided on Tuesday that it is not in favor of changing the system of governance in Maldives from the current presidential system to a parliamentary system.

At a council meeting held at the Imaaduddin School hall to make a decision on a referendum for a change in the system, all members, including President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, voiced opposition to such a change.

All 90 members who attended the meeting voted that they were not in favor of a parliamentary system.

At the meeting, the members directed heavily criticism against the party’s former leader Mohamed Nasheed and his new party the Democrats, the chief advocates for the change to a parliamentary system.

Many of the council members repeatedly stated that they wanted “a choice other than Nasheed, a choice other than parliamentary.”

The Parliament had passed a resolution submitted by the Democrats calling for a referendum to be taken before October 30 last month – between the two rounds of the presidential election. The resolution passed with the vote of lawmakers from the MDP – who hold a majority at the Parliament.

MDP had been engaged in negotiations with the Democrats to secure their support for the runoff election at the time.

However, the Democrats later decided against supporting either side in the runoff.