Constitutional reform appears to be on hold after MPs from the ruling Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP) walked out of the Special Majlis (constitutional assembly) again on Sunday. They have said they will not return unless Speaker Gasim Ibrahim rules clauses they have proposed can be put to an immediate vote.The clauses deal with a key battleground of the reform process, specifying that the two-term limit on the presidency starts with the implementation of the constitution in progress - meaning President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom can stand for a seventh term.
On HoldDespite a Saturday warning by the DRP, Gasim on Sunday refused to bring forward the proposed clauses on term limits, saying their validity may depend on other clauses due to come up for a vote first. The opposition have supported his decision, but the DRP protested by leaving the assembly.Material already agreed between the parties, such as sections on independent commissions, is timetabled to come up for a vote next. But the DRP say this is unacceptable.“We have made our case,” said DRP coordinator Ibrahim Shafiu in a press conference on Sunday. “Now we are saying to the Speaker: show us a way out.”But with tensions increasing in the long-delayed process of setting transitional arrangements for implementation of the constitution, opposition MPs held their own press conference to say the DRP was using its majority to “hijack” proceedings.And meanwhile no date has been set for the next Special Majlis meeting, meaning the constitutional reform process is on hold pending Gasim’s response.
Gasim also said he might ask the opposition-dominated business committee of the Special Majlis for a ruling on the eligibility of the clauses for a vote, but the DRP argue such a decision would be outside the committee’s “administrative” mandate.The committee, which sets the Special Majlis agenda, is chaired by Mohamed (Monaza) Naeem of the People’s Association (PA) political group, and has previously offered pivotal rulings on issues such as a July 2007 allegation of voting fraud within the assembly.Other members are Abdullah Yameen and Zahir Adam of the PA; Hussein Rasheed Hassan, Mohamed Aslam and Mohamed Shihab of the largest opposition Maldivian Democratic Party; and Aneesa Ahmed, Ibrahim Shafiu, Moosa Naeem and Mohamed Majdee Ibrahim of the DRP.
After Gasim’s election as Speaker in May 2007, he and the committee introduced radical changes to Special Majlis procedure after two years of stalled constitutional development.But it has clashed with Gasim over issues such as a motion to remove presidential appointees from the assembly, supported by the committee but dismissed by Gasim last July.“We haven’t been asked” to consider the viability of the clauses, said Naeem on Sunday. “But if we are asked for an opinion, we will give one.”Two TermsMaldivian chose a presidential over a parliamentary system in last August’s constitutional referendum, with a two-term limit on the presidency as part of the package.But the DRP now argue the limit was never intended to be retrospective, whilst the MDP and some independent MPs contend President Gayoom has already exceeded it.
Already passed constitutional material enshrines the two-term limit, but opposition MPs have now proposed clauses for the transitional chapter indicating the constitution is simply an amendment of that introduced in 1953 when Maldives became a republic.Yet they also argue already passed material makes it clear the term limit applies retrospectively, in any case.Meanwhile head of DRP parliamentary group Aneesa Ahmed has proposed a clause specifying the phrase “this constitution” applies only to the one in progress, and another saying the two-term limit will start in 2008.Gasim’s ruling must apply to both sets of clauses. But bearing in mind his previous ruling that the constitution is “amended” and not “new”, a decision not to table any of the clauses is widely equated with a ruling against the DRP.Gasim is a DRP vice president and finance minister, but was part of the opposition reform movement until 2005, and is believed to maintain links with opposition politicians.
TimingAfter missing the original May 2007 deadline, and a revised date of November 2007, to complete the constitution, the assembly has now passed the 31 March 2008 date pledged by information minister Mohamed Nasheed in February.And international diplomats including James Moran, EU director for Asia, who visited in March, have warned time is short to implement the independent commissions due to be put in place ahead of presidential elections.With Gasim appearing reluctant to produce a definitive ruling on the contentious clauses, and the DRP refusing to attend the assembly until he does, it is unclear when the process may now be completed.The only material on transition to have passed a vote so far is the principle of a transitional chapter, agreed on Sunday.
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