The Government will hold a public referendum to seek voters’ views on conducting presidential and parliamentary elections concurrently, following the issuance of Presidential Decree by President Dr Mohamed Muizzu.

The President’s Office said the referendum will ask the public to approve the ratification of a constitutional amendment providing for the presidential election and the People’s Majlis election to be held at the same time, alongside changes to the commencement of the parliamentary term. The referendum is scheduled to be held on Saturday, 4 April 2026, together with the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee elections.

The constitutional amendment was passed by the People’s Majlis on 10 February 2026 at the second sitting of its first session for the year. The bill, sponsored by Inguraidhoo constituency MP Ibrahim Falah on behalf of the government, was approved with the support of 72 members.

The amendments fall under Article 262(b) of the Constitution and Section 5(a) of the Public Referendum Act (Law No. 2025/15), which require certain constitutional changes to be submitted to a public referendum before presidential ratification. Under Article 262(b), a constitutional amendment passed by the People’s Majlis may be ratified by the President only if it is approved by a majority of votes cast in a public referendum.

In addition, Section 31 of the Public Referendum Act stipulates that if a majority of votes cast in the referendum support the amendment, the President must ratify the bill and publish it in the Government Gazette within 15 days of the official announcement of the results. If the amendment fails to secure majority support, the bill will be deemed void.

The referendum question to be put to voters will ask whether they approve the ratification of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution to allow presidential and parliamentary elections to be held concurrently and to change the term of the People’s Majlis.

The Elections Commission has been mandated to make the necessary arrangements to conduct the referendum in accordance with the law. The commission had previously recommended that the referendum be held alongside the Local Council and Women’s Development Committee elections, citing significantly higher costs if conducted separately.

Calls to align presidential and parliamentary elections have been raised for several years, with proponents arguing that holding both polls at the same time would improve voter turnout and reduce election-related costs.