MDP proposes making president’s senior advisor the party chairman

The MDP has proposed amending its constitution to require the party’s chairman to be appointed as the senior advisor to the president.

The amendments will be debated during the MDP Congress, which opened Thursday evening. Formal debate is scheduled for Saturday, with a vote expected that night.

Among the notable changes proposed are removing the sitting president from being the party’s leader if he is an MDP member, abolishing the posts of president and vice-president within the party, and prohibiting the party chairman from holding any state-paid position. The amendments also propose creating a deputy chairman’s post, increasing the number of political deputy chairpersons, and ensuring that one vice-chairperson is a woman.

These changes would significantly strengthen the authority of the MDP chairman.

Under the proposed constitution, MDP office employees, including the chairman and deputy chairman, would be barred from contesting internal elections or campaigning. Administrative staff wishing to contest must notify the chairman at least one month in advance, and the election committee would be empowered to temporarily suspend employees in cases of conflict of interest or concerns over fairness.

If passed, the amendments would prevent the chairman from influencing internal elections.

The MDP is currently the second-largest political party in the Maldives, with 55,399 registered members, according to the Election Commission.