News Desk
The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no legal basis to halt Saturday’s referendum on holding presidential and parliamentary elections on the same day, removing the final obstacle to a vote that could reshape the country’s electoral calendar.
A five‑judge bench delivered the unanimous judgment this afternoon in the case filed by MDP lawyers, who argued that the President’s chosen question for the referendum was unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Abdul Ghani Mohamed, delivering the lead opinion, said the court found “no legal reason to hold that the question contained in the Presidential Resolution is contrary to Article 262 of the Constitution” and therefore “no reason to cancel the referendum scheduled for 2026.” All four other justices agreed.
The bench comprised the Chief Justice, Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Dr Mohamed Ibrahim, Justice Abdulla Hameed and Justice Hussain Shaheed.
The court’s reasoning centred on three points:
- There is no prescribed format for how a referendum question must be formulated.
- Under the Referendum Act, the wording of the question is a discretionary power of the President.
- The plaintiffs failed to demonstrate why the question was unlawful or misleading.
The Chief Justice noted that Article 262(b) requires public consent before ratifying amendments to certain constitutional provisions. He said there was no legal basis to claim that consulting the public on the ratification of the entire amendment bill would violate that requirement.
State lawyers argued that the Constitution does not dictate how a referendum question must be framed and that the plaintiffs had not shown any flaw in the President’s wording. The court accepted this view.
With today’s ruling, preparations for Saturday’s vote will continue without interruption. The outcome could pave the way for a significant shift in how Maldivians elect their leaders, aligning presidential and parliamentary polls for the first time.
