MALE, 04 September 2021, (TON): 0ver 50,000 people have signed the petition calling for a constitutional referendum to switch from a presidential system to a parliamentary system.

The petition was drafted up by the renowned lawyer Ahmed Nishan who had spoken to media regarding it, noting that they have attained many signatories whereas efforts were currently underway to record the details of the signatories to one system.

He had said “from the information I have received over 50,000 people have signed as of now. We have received many forms from the islands as well. Currently working on entering the information into a system. We will be able to identify whether there are repeated signatories this way.”

Speaking further, Nishan noted that the petition has been well received at the atolls as well and subsequently many forms have been sent to the atolls in order to get more signatories. Forms that have already been signed will soon be sent back as well.

He had said “the support is overwhelming. If we continue at this rate – we will soon reach the targeted number of signatures. This work will only be stopped when we reach the target.”

The aim of the petition is to collect 1,000,000 signatories within 100 days.