Parliament has accepted the amendment to age criteria for President and Vice President.
The amendment was accepted to the Parliament yesterday. The proposed amendment states that the age criteria for Presidential and Vice Presidential hopefuls should be between 30 and 65 years old. Presently the law states that all who apply for the position have to be above 35 years old, with no age cap.
The amendment was accepted for deliberations at the Parliament floor at a time when rumors have spread that the President was planning to remove present Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and to instate Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb to the position.
The amendment was tabled by Government Coalition partner MDA member and Hoarafushi Constituency MP Mohamed Ismail. The motion was accepted to the Parliament with 44 members voting for it. Five members had voted against the motion.
Members from ruling coalition had argued that the amendment was a key motion and as such should be passed.
Members who voted against the motion argued that this amendment was tabled for the benefit of certain individuals. Opposition MP called out to lower the age criteria to 18 years old. As such MPD Parliamentary Group Leader had called for this. However, he was unsupportive to place an age cap on the maximum age one can run for Presidential and Vice Presidential positions.
The amendment has been forwarded to the Independent Institutions Committee of the Parliament for deliberations.
A change to any law requires the vote of three fourths of the Parliament. Even though the Government has a majority in the Parliament, votes from the opposition is required to pass such laws.
Parliament accepts amendments to age criteria for President, Vice President
