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Maldives GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Constitution
Government organization is based on the 1968
constitution, as
revised in 1970, 1972, and 1975. The document provides the
basis
for a highly centralized, presidential form of government.
Its
philosophical frame of reference is derived from Islam;
thus the
distinction between secular and religious authority is
often
academic. The constitution vests final authority for the
propagation of Islam in the president, who in turn is
empowered
to appoint all judges who interpret and apply the sharia
in the
adjudication of civil and criminal cases. In Maldives,
therefore,
the courts are not independent of the executive branch,
but
rather are under the minister of justice, who is appointed
by the
president.
Constitutional provisions regarding the basic rights of
the
people are broadly phrased. They refer to freedom of
speech and
assembly, equality before the law, and the right to own
property,
but these rights are to be exercised within the framework
of the
sharia. In 1990 younger members of the recently expanded
president's Consultative Council called for the repeal or
amendment of Article 38 in the penal code, which allows
the
jailing or banishment "for any gesture, speech or action
that
instills malice or disobedience in the minds of Maldivians
against lawfully formed government."
The president is elected for a renewable five-year term
by
the Majlis, or legislature. The election must be
formalized
through confirmation in a popular referendum. The chief
executive
is assisted by a cabinet, or Council of Ministers, whose
members
serve at his pleasure. The post of prime minister, which
had
existed under the sultan and in the early years of the
republic,
was eliminated in 1975 by President Ibrahim Nasir because
of
abuses of the office. Cabinet ministers need not be
members of
the Majlis. The legislature is unicameral, with members
elected
for five-year terms by citizens aged twenty-one and above,
or
appointed by the president. Eight of its forty-eight
members are
appointed by the president, and the rest are chosen
popularly,
two from Male and two from each of the nineteen
administrative
atolls.
Data as of August 1994
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