President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced plans to propose a constitutional amendment to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections together, with the new term set to begin on November 11.

This was announced during the official ceremony held on Sunday to commemorate this year’s Republic Day.

Taking the podium at the event, the president noted that due to political and other reasons, Republic Day has been delayed by a week, and the start of the term has been changed to November 17.

However, as Republic Day falls on November 11, he expressed his desire to change the start of the term.

He added that the decision will be made by the people, and that he will propose to change the law, to the parliament, which the incumbent administration has a supermajority in.

Shedding light on the presidential and parliamentary elections, the president noted that the two polls are held close and that he wishes to hold them together.

Muizzu said that holding two separate elections incurs a huge cost.

He however said that the decision will be made by the People’s Majlis, if the people agree to it.

In addition to this, Muizzu said that the second round of the Presidential election needs to be eliminated, and that work is currently underway to study this in collaboration with the Attorney General.

Highlighting that several countries across the globe including some neighboring countries follow this principle, Muizzu said that the government would seek the best path for Maldives.

Further, Muizzu said that for such important matters in the country, the government would seek public opinion and make changes according to their wishes.

The president added that doing things this way will greatly reduce costs.