Malé, Maldives – Spokesperson of the Presidents Office, Mohamed Mabrouq Azeez has said that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had no priority for changing the governing system of Maldives and that his focus is to fulfill his presidential pledges.
Speaking on the Presidents Office press conference held last night, Mabrouq stated that president had higher priorities on his plate given the Covid-19 pandemics effects on the nation and his presidential pledges.
Mabrouq also stated that if the majority of people wanted to change the current presidential system to a parliamentary system then President Solih would not hesitate to take a referendum vote for it if discussions go that far.
Speaking on the matter, President Solih had previously stated that this was a decision which needs to be made by the general public and that he did not want to focus on anything other than completing a successful 5 year term in office. He also added that people had voted to have a presidential system back in 2007 when the new constitution was being made and that people had said no to a parliamentary system.
According to local media sources, Speaker Nasheed had told that he did not want to be on the sidelines of the state and that he wants to run the country by becoming the Prime Minister of Maldives. He had sent the message to the president yesterday evening but also stated that he wanted to discuss the matter with President Solih.
In the message he had sent, Speaker Nasheed had told that the president of the country would be decided from parliament in 2024 instead of holding the 2023 elections. Nasheed also said that the current parliament would decide who would become the president of the Maldives.
Speaker Nasheed’s more direct and open show of interest to become Prime Minister of the country comes while he has repeatedly stated that he had the interest to become one in the past. But Nasheed has previously said that it wasn’t the right time to change the governing system. Speaker Nasheed has also made repeated comments about bringing a parliamentary system to the country.
Speaker Nasheed had previously responded to the parliamentarian by saying that although he has the same thought as him and has always supported the decision of changing the country’s system, this is not the right time to debate about changing systems.
“Although I agree with the change the MP of Kaashidhoo is referring to, our views on how to bring the change are very different. And I do not think this is the right time to debate about any changes in the governing system,”
Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed
His remarks came after Kaashidhoo MP, Abdulla Jabir sought to change the governing system of the country to a parliamentary system from a presidential system in October 2020.
