Start of presidential term to be reverted back to Nov 11

Attorney General Ahmed Usham has announced plans to submit a constitutional amendment to revert the beginning of the presidential term in the Maldives back to November 11.

The second republic of the Maldives was established in 1968 after the country gained independence from the British Empire. The first president of the second republic, Ibrahim Nasir, took office on November 11, 1968.

This changed in 2013, when Supreme Court vacated the results of the first round of voting in that year’s presidential elections and called for fresh elections. This resulted in a delay in the elections process, and Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who won the 2013 elections, took office on November 17, 2013.

The Maldives has been counting the beginning of presidential terms from November 17 since then.

In a press briefing held at the President’s Office on Wednesday afternoon, Usham announced that the government plans of making several constitutional changes. He said that this includes reverting the start of presidential terms back to November 11.

“These things take some time as such an amendment requires a referendum,” he said.

The government also plans on having the country’s boundaries written in the constitution.

Usham said that the country’s territory is currently written in a law and not the constitution. He said that the government plans on having it written in the constitution itself, including the procedure for if there are any changes to the territory.

Another key legislature the government plans on submitting is a bill to limit the number of members of the Parliament. Usham said the Attorney General’s Office is currently conducting research to draft a constitutional provision regarding the process for recall votes for lawmakers.

Former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had also announced plans to revert the start of the presidential term back to November 11. However, it was never done owing to the lengthy process involved in making such a constitutional change.

Therefore, his successor, the country’s incumbent president Dr. Mohamed Muizzu took his oath of office on November 17, 2023.