Parliament Speaker and President of the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mohamed Nasheed has said the transition to a parliamentary system of governance is possible in the Maldives and that the transitional phase of the parliamentary system would begin in February next year.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Nasheed shared some of the provisions of the resolution he submitted to the MDP Congress regarding changing the government system to a parliamentary system.
Nasheed said he faces things in life with the intent to win and that he was confident that the amendments he wants to propose to the Constitution to change the government system to parliamentary will be passed in the MDP Congress and will get the support of the people.
Nasheed said once the parliamentary resolution is passed by the MDP Congress, a vote is expected to be taken to determine the people's views on the change of the system of government. The transitional phase of the parliamentary system will begin in February next year, he said, adding that next year's elections will be held with the necessary constitutional amendments to change the system of government to a parliamentary system.
Nasheed said he would present the resolution on the parliamentary system at the MDP congress starting next Friday. He also assured that he would accept the decisions of Congress regardless of their decision on the resolution.
The parliamentary system proposed by President Nasheed will have both a president and a prime minister. According to the resolution, the Prime Minister is the head of government while President is the head of state.
According to the resolution, the Prime Minister will be appointed by the party that wins more than half of the seats of the parliament. If no party wins a majority, the government can be formed with the parties that win seats in parliament. The President shall be elected by popular vote.
According to the resolution, the Prime Minister is empowered to form the Cabinet, but the Prime Minister must seek the advice of the President in appointing the Defense Minister and the Foreign Minister. The powers of the President include the appointment and dismissal of ambassadors, the appointment and dismissal of members of independent institutions, and declaring public holidays.
Nasheed added that he would talk to anyone he needed to talk to change the country's governance to a parliamentary system. He said he needed the support of MDP Chairman and Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail to achieve his vision.
