Constitution to be amended to make MPs lose seats upon party switching
The ruling PNC has begun work to introduce a bill to the People’s Majlis (Parliament) to amend the Constitution so that members of parliament lose their seats if they change their party affiliation after being elected.
There is already an anti-defection law that stipulates that MPs will lose their seats if they switch to another party.
The first law that made MPs lose their seats was enacted during former President Abdullah Yameen’s administration. However, when MDP came to power, they repealed that law. But towards the end of the last term of the People’s Majlis, MDP introduced a similar law again.
The bill was submitted on behalf of MDP by then-member for Baarah constituency, Ahmed Abdullah. The bill was passed by the Majlis and ratified by the President. According to the Anti-Defection Law, if members change the party they were elected from, they must resign from their membership voluntarily.
The three situations where resignation is required are: when a member voluntarily leaves the party they were elected from and joins another party, when they register with another party, and when an independent member joins any political party during the term they were elected for.
If any of these three situations occur, resignation is optional. The law does not specify what happens if they do not resign.
Now, PNC is working to enshrine these provisions in the Constitution, which would make them more difficult to change in the future.
