President welcomes the removal of the gender bar

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has welcomed two important developments at session of the People's Special Majlis held on the 14 of January to finalize the Chapter on the President.

First, members voted overwhelmingly to defeat an amendment proposed by MDP MP Hussain Ibrahim to maintain the gender bar in seeking presidential office under the new Constitution. As early as June 2004, the President had proposed to the Special Majlis the removal of gender bias in seeking presidential office.


The second key development was the revision, through a successful amendment proposed by a DRP MP, of certain Articles that clearly discriminated against a particular individual seeking presidential office, and thereby facilitating candidates of all registered political parties to seek presidential office in the upcoming multiparty presidential election.

The President highlighted that the two developments were "major steps" in realizing the "aspirations of the people to usher in a modern liberal democracy in the Maldives". While congratulating the MPs who defeated the amendment on keeping the gender bar and those who voted in favor of the amendment facilitating equal opportunities for presidential hopefuls of all parties, President Gayoom noted that the actions of some opposition elements in the aftermath of the session were regrettable.

Commenting on the developments, the Presidential Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu) said, "the orchestrated attempts to misinform the people and international stakeholders of the outcome of developments bring into serious question the commitment of these people to democratic values. These actions were taken in desperation by the enemies of democracy. The people have a right to know the truth, and the Government will fulfill its responsibility to brief all stakeholders on the progress attained in the Special Majlis."

"Of particular satisfaction was the assurance that the current gender bar would be removed, in accordance to the President’s 31-point proposal on constitution amendment of 2004" said Mundhu.

Mundhu said that DRP parliamentary group must be congratulated on its initiative to overturn the discriminatory elements in the draft on the Chapter on the President of the Republic that were designed to sabotage the presidential election bid of a particular candidate.

He further noted that the Government was firmly committed to fulfilling its promise of a free and fair presidential election. However, he noted that the actions of certain opposition elements to remove President Gayoom from the race could have seriously jeopardized the march towards democracy.