News Desk
The Bar Council of the Maldives will hold a panel discussion on Saturday evening to gather public views on next month’s vote on whether presidential and parliamentary elections should be held on the same day.
Attorney General Ahmed Usham will participate as a panelist, alongside former Attorneys General Azima Shakoor and Diyana Saeed — all three of whom support holding the two elections concurrently.
The panel will also feature former Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu, former Vice‑Chair of the Constitutional Assembly Shaheen Hameed, and Shamsul Falaah. Falaah is among the legal experts opposing the proposal to hold the presidential and Majlis elections on the same day, ensuring both sides of the debate are represented.
The Bar Council said the purpose of the event is to create a platform for public engagement ahead of the referendum‑style vote scheduled to take place alongside the Local Council Elections on 4 April.
Voters will be asked whether the President should ratify the 8th Amendment to the Constitution Bill, passed by the Majlis, which proposes holding the Presidential and Parliamentary elections on the same day.
The government is actively campaigning in support of the vote, while the opposition MDP is campaigning against it. The MDP has also filed cases in the High Court seeking to halt the vote, though no decision has been issued yet. Apart from the MDP, all other major political parties support the government’s position.
Meanwhile, two constitutional cases have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of holding both elections on the same day. The Supreme Court has accepted one of the cases for review.
The Bar Council’s panel discussion is expected to provide a rare public forum where both sides of the constitutional debate can be heard ahead of a vote that could reshape the country’s electoral calendar.
Such debates are customary in the Maldives. During the drafting of the 2008 Constitution, town‑hall style forums, roadside debates and political‑party “saloon debates” were widely held to discuss whether the Maldives should adopt a presidential system or a Westminster‑style parliamentary system. These debates have historically been civil, lively and free of incidents — a tradition the Bar Council aims to continue.
