Speaker and former President, Mohamed Nasheed has said that this is not the time to change up the country’s governing system.

The speaker made the statement at Tuesday’s parliament sitting, in regards to a proposed amendment to the Maldivian Constitution.

The first amendment proposed by Mahibadhoo constituency MP Ahmed Thoriq proposes to disqualify political figures from Judicial Service Commission (JSC) membership while a second one seeks to change the country’s governing system. It was proposed by Kaashidhoo constituency MP Abdulla Jabir.

Nasheed, an advocate of switching from the current presidential system to a parliamentary system, stressed that while he believes that the change is required, that this “is not the time” to do so.

While Nasheed repeatedly noted that he supports the change-up, he opposed MP Jabir’s proposal and emphasized that his views on how to bring about the change ‘are different’.

Furthermore, the speaker said that he does not believe that they should even be debating on the matter yet.

Despite his views, MP Jabir’s proposed amendment bill was accepted and will go on through the set parliamentary procedures.

Nasheed said that the parliament representatives “will decide” on the matter.