Democrats submit bill to include anti-defection clause in constitution

A bill was submitted to the Parliament on Tuesday to include in anti-defection provisions in the constitution, 

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu ratified the Anti-Defection Bill granting legal enforcement for lawmakers to lose their parliament seats upon floor crossing on April 16^th.  The Act mandates lawmakers to resign from their electoral post should they switch the political party they were elected on. However, it fails to specify the course of action should the lawmaker refuse to resign.

The first reading of the bill submitted by West Henveiru MP Hassan Latheef on March 26^th to include in the constitution that lawmakers will lose their parliament seats upon floor crossing took place during Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting.

Hassan proposes to add a new subsection after Article 76 (d) of the constitution. In this regard, the bill states that members elected to the parliament will lose their seats under the following circumstances:

A lawmaker representing a political party resigning from the said party or switching to another party on their own accord

An independently elected lawmaker signing to the political party

A lawmaker representing a political party being expelled from the said party during their electoral term in accordance with the party’s regulations for voting against a whip of the party in the parliament or a parliamentary committee

A vote agreed by the majority of the voting population of the constituents to recall the lawmaker in circumstances where a lawmaker representing a political party is expelled from the party for any other reason apart from a violation of a whip

A vote agreed by the majority of the voting population of the constituents to recall the lawmaker in circumstances where the vote is triggered by a petition filed with the backing of a certain percentage of the voting population of the constituents to recall the lawmaker. The petition has to be reviewed by the relevant parliamentary committee – which will decide whether to greenlight the vote

As per the Anti-Defection Bill that is currently in force following the President’s ratification – lawmakers should resign under two distinct circumstances, which are;

• Voluntary resignation from the political party through which the member was elected to the post
• Switching parties

Besides this, the law also specifies two situations where a recall vote is mandatory, which include;

• Dismissal or removal from the party from which the member was elected for the post
• Independent members signing for political parties

The specification in the Act that the lawmaker should resign has triggered legal questions as it fails to specify the course of action if the lawmaker refuses to resign from their post over any of the aforementioned reasons.

Baarah MP Ahmed Abdulla who submitted the Act has said it is the court that will make a decision in such circumstances, adding the law reads as it is due to the specific terms in the constitution.