Parties support call to speed up transitional arrangements prior to multi-party elections

20 October, 2007
Posted by Administrator in Parliament, Politics.
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All political parties except the President Gayoom’s DRP have expressed support to speeding up transitional arrangements to oversee the run-up to the country’s first ever multi-party elections scheduled for 2008.

MDP Chairperson Mr. Mohamed Nasheed speaking to reporters in the U.K on 06 October 2007 called on the government to speed up transitional arrangements to enable the draft Constitution to be finalized and in force soon.

Official reports on 16 October 2007 said that a new chapter (Chapter 13) to deal with interim arrangements was being compiled by the drafting committee of the Peoples Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly).

Adhaalaath Party President Sheikh Hussain Rasheed, speaking to reporters in Male’ on 07 October 2007 said that his party had called for an interim government on previous occasions as well, adding that the Peoples Special Majlis and the present government needed to be dissolved for the reform process to succeed. He noted that the government’s delay in convening recently announced all-party talks indicates an ongoing effort to cancel the process.

Leaders of the Maldivian Social Democratic Party, and the Islamic Democratic Party, Mr. Ibrahim Manik, and Mr. Umar Naseer respectively said that their parties would extend assistance to speed up the drafting of the new Constitution.

Speaking to the press on 10 August 2007, Mr. Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, MDP MP for Lhaviyani Atoll had said that the draft of the Constitution will be complete only after incorporating an additional chapter on “transitional arrangements”. The MDP has 6 MPs in the 20 member drafting committee of whom five are said to be independents.

After three years of deliberations the Peoples Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly) debated the first chapter of the draft Constitution on 4th October 2007. Members had set a deadline to complete amendments to the Constitution by 30 November 2007. The house had adopted five chapters of the draft Constitution to date.