Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works, Adam Shareef Umar has stated that the time spent on elections and campaigns must be reduced to increase national productivity.
He made the statement while speaking at the Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee during discussions on merging the presidential election and the parliamentary election.
The Cities Minister as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Local Government Authority (LGA), Mohamed Nimal represented the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) at the meeting held by the committee to seek political parties’ views on the government’s proposal to amend the Constitution to conduct the two major elections simultaneously.
Speaking in favour of the amendment, Minister Shareef said merging elections would empower citizens, reduce social problems, and revive the multi-party system. Presidential and parliamentary candidates would run as one team, according to the minister. He added that PNC strongly supports the change, as it believes the change would significantly benefit the entire nation and its people.
In contrast, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expressed opposition to conducting the two elections simultaneously. Representing MDP, former Member of Parliament Hisan Hassan said merging elections could limit voters’ ability to make informed decisions.
The committee is considering conducting a referendum on the proposed amendment to coincide with the local council elections held in April. The Election Commission of Maldives (ECM) and Attorney General’s Office have been consulted for legal and procedural guidance.