President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified an amendment to the Presidential Elections Act which effectively lifts the ban on several political leaders including former president Mohamed Nasheed from contesting for the presidency.
The law on presidential elections was amended in July last year by former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom which was largely designed to bar several political leaders who were in exile from the presidency.
However, the Parliament now controlled by Nasheed's Maldivian Democrtic Party (MDP) reversed the amendment earlier this month.
Subsection (c) of Article 7 refers to Section 109 of the Maldives constitution which state that a presidential candidate should be a Maldivian citizen born to Maldivian parents.
It further stipulates that in the event that the individual running Presidency has held the citizenship of a foreign country, the individual would only be able to compete in the presidential elections after 10 years of renouncing foreign citizenship.
Upon ratification, the Act has been published in the Government’s Gazette.
