Malé, Maldives – A public campaign has been initiated to legislate elections to recall elected Members of the Parliament, by lawyer and the independent candidate who ran against MP of North Galolhu constituency Eva Abdullah, Hamza Khaleel, in the last Parliamentary elections.
Hamza’s campaign has been activated on social media, where he proposes amending the constitution of the Maldives to allow recall elections against MPs.
The bill drafted by Hamza proposes that a recall election should be held in the constitution with in 45 days, if a petition signed by at least two thirds of eligible voters from the constituency is submitted to the Elections Commission. It also states that the MP in question shall be removed from office if they fail to secure majority votes.
The bill states a number of probably causes to prompt a no confidence petition, including violating a pillar of Islam or the constitution of the Maldives, decreased attendance and failing to carryout assigned duties accordingly, among others. It also states that working in favor of a specific political party instead of the general public can also lead to the recall petition.
So far, no political figure in the Maldives has publicly commented on the bill. It is yet to know whether the bill would make its way to the Parliamentary floor.
