Former defence minister Mariya Ahmed Didi on Monday called for constitutional reform to stagger parliamentary elections, warning that the current system allows excessive concentration of power in the presidency and weakens parliamentary oversight.
Mariya said in a post on X that the Maldives faces an unprecedented situation in which Parliament has become effectively paralysed following constitutional amendments introduced by the Muizzu government.
She noted that since the adoption of the current Constitution, the Maldives has held four presidential elections and four parliamentary elections on a regular cycle.
“Despite this regularity, we now find ourselves in an unprecedented situation where Parliament is effectively paralyzed, its oversight role weakened by constitutional amendments introduced by the Muizzu administration,” Mariya said.
The current alignment of parliamentary and presidential elections has undermined the separation of powers envisioned in the Constitution and limited the legislature’s ability to hold the executive to account, the former parliamentarian argued.
“At the heart of the problem is the complete synchronization of parliamentary and presidential elections, which allows a sitting president—once elected—to consolidate power and neutralise parliamentary oversight for the duration of their term,” she added.
The problem, she said, can be remedied by staggering parliamentary elections through a constitutional amendment. Under her proposal, half of parliamentary seats would be elected for an initial term of two and a half years, with elections held mid-way through a presidential term alongside local council elections. These seats would then be renewed every five years on a staggered basis.
The remaining half of parliamentary seats would continue to be elected at the same time as the presidential election, serving full five-year terms.
“This model introduces continuous democratic accountability and ensures that no president governs with an unchecked Parliament for five uninterrupted years,” Mariya said. She added that mid-term parliamentary elections would allow public sentiment to be reflected in the legislature during a presidential term.
She pointed to the United States as an example of a democracy that uses staggered elections to preserve the separation of powers and maintain executive accountability to the legislature.
The proposed reform, according to Mariya, would restore Parliament’s oversight role, strengthen checks and balances, prevent excessive concentration of executive power and keep the democratic system responsive between elections.
“I hope we can begin lobbying around this proposal, build public consensus, and work collectively to ensure that our constitutional system truly serves the nation and its people,” she said.