Parliament of Maldives has approved the Anti-Defection Bill submitted to parliament by the Majority Leader Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik. The bill was passed with 36 votes in its favor. During the committee process, various amendments were brought to the bill initially submitted by Nihan.
The main aim of the bill is to ensure that parliamentarians refrain from political and financial influences since parliamentarians are elected by the citizens.
Parliamentarians elected after contesting on party tickets will lose their seats if they leave the party, get expelled from the party or defect to another party, according to the Anti-Defection Bill. The bill, however, details that parliamentarians elected as independents would not lose their seats, if they decide to join a political party during their parliamentary term. In addition, the bill states that if a member decides to go against the whip line of their party, their seats would not be lost even if a disciplinary action was taken against them.
The bill will come to effect from July 13. This, in turn, would result in the 12 parliamentarians who defected last year, to lose their seats at parliament.