Parliament passes referendum bill with changes recommended by committee

Parliament, on Monday, has passed the referendum bill, which defines the circumstances under which public referendums can be held, as well as to specify the responsibilities of the relevant authorities including the Elections Commission (EC).

The government-backed bill was submitted by PNC’s parliamentary group leader and Inguraidhoo constituency parliamentary representative on July 7^th and forwarded to the Independent Institutions Committee for review on July 9^th.

The Committee made minor changes during its review. These changes include:

• Granting EC the discretion to hold a referendum earlier than the minimum 45-day period following either the parliamentary resolution or the presidential decree to hold a referendum
• Adding a provision stating that a referendum shall be passed only if at least 50 percent of the valid votes cast are in favor
• Adding a provision requiring Finance Ministry to allocate the necessary funds for conducting a referendum within 10 days of receiving a request from EC

The bill was passed by the votes of 64 out of 76 MPs in attendance. 12 MPs voted against the bill.

Public referendums can be held to determine the following under the bill.

• Issues concerning the interest of the public
• National issues
• Amending fundamental rights and freedoms granted by the constitution
• Changes to the parliamentary term
• Changes to the presidential term
• How the president is elected
• Ratification of a bill by the president under circumstances where the president has not ratified a bill
• Changes to Maldives’ territory

Notably, the bill comes amid plans by the government to combine the presidential and parliamentary elections in light of the heavy expenses that the state has to bear to hold the elections separately. To implement these changes, the government is planning to hold a referendum this year.