Will voters be allowed to say ‘none’ of those proposed deserve to hold office, asks prominent attorney

Prominent attorney Maumoon Hameed has asked if political parties have "the courage" to let the voters declare that none of the presidential candidates deserve to hold office.

Maumoon Hameed said this regarding the bill proposed to change the law on presidential elections.

In a tweet on Monday, Hameed said that asked “instead of forcing voters to choose the lesser of two evils, do our political parties have the courage to let voters declare, “nope, none of the persons you proposed deserve to lead us?””.

According to information received by RaajjeMV, ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group leader Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik had proposed the bill to make amendments to the law on qualifications required of candidates vying in presidential elections.

The bill was proposed to change section 109 of the Constitution, which declares the qualifications required for a person to be elected as President. According to section 109, the person needs to be a Muslim Maldivian citizen who is at least thirty-five years of age with a sound mind and does not have an undischarged decreed debt. The person should also not have a criminal sentence of more than 12 months unless a period of three years have elapsed since his release, or pardon for the offense for which he was sentenced. The person should also not have been convicted of an offense for which a hadd (Arabic term for punishment) is prescribed in Islam or of fraud, deception or criminal breach of trust.