Govt considers introducing quotas for women and youths in Parliament

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu says his administration is considering introducing quotas for women and youths in the Parliament.

Speaking to reporters on Monday morning, President Muizzu noted that the Constitution currently mandates the election of a parliamentary representatives for every 5,000 citizens, meaning the number of Parliament seats may soon exceed 100 as the country’s population grows.

President Muizzu said that his administration plans on submitting a constitutional amendment to cap the number of Parliament seats depending on the results of the upcoming referendum on synchronizing the presidential and parliamentary elections.

He said that the administration is considering proposing not only to cap the number of Parliament seats, but also to introduce several other changes.

“Along with the amendment to stop the increase in number of parliamentarians, we are also researching two other proposals, one of which is to allocate a specific percentage of seats in the Parliament for youths under the age of 30 and also a specific percentage for women,” he said.

President Muizzu noted that while the Maldives has introduced gender quotas in local councils, neither gender quotas nor quotas for youths have been introduced in the Parliament.

He said that his administration plans to propose these amendments, but did not say when.

Speaking to reporters in May last year, President Muizzu said his administration plans to cap the number of Parliament seats at the current 93.

In June 2024, Baarah MP Ibrahim Shujau, a senior parliamentarian from the People’s National Congress (PNC), submitted a resolution seeking the opinion of the Parliament on introducing a cap. But the resolution remains at the Indepenent Institutions Committee.

Article 71 of the Constitutions states two parliamentary representatives must be elected for the first 5,000 residents registered for each administrative division or two members for administrative divisions with less than 5,000 residents; and one additional member for every additional 5,000 resident.