Bill return shows parliament does not work to President's whim: Falah

Parliamentary Group Leader of ruling People's National Congress (PNC) has said today that the fact that President Dr Mohamed Muizzu sent back the bill on amendments to the Judicature Act shows that the parliament, despite having a PNC supermajority, does not work on orders of the President or the government.

The bill, passed by parliament in just two days, calls for the reduction of the number of judges on the Supreme Court bench from seven to five. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu returned the bill to parliament for reconsideration after receiving advice from Attorney General Ahmed Usham that some articles of the bill contravene the Constitution.

Parliament today held a debate on how work on the bill will be proceeded.

Speaking in the debate, Falah said that this makes it evident to the public that the parliament will not approve of everything that the President proposes.

"This bill has now given a clear response to the claims being made by the opposition as well. It has been made clear that regardless of how big a majority PNC has in parliament, the President will not accept each and everything we pass," Falah said.

"It is now evident to the public that this parliament does not work as per the whims of the President or on orders of the government," he said.

Falah noted that the bill calls for reduction of the Supreme Court bench from seven judges to five. Although the bill stipulates that this must be done within five days of ratification, three judges of the Supreme Court have been suspended after the bill was passed in parliament. Due to this, the Supreme Court bench does not at present have seven judges, he said. Hence, even if the bill were to be ratified now, it is not possible to decide on five judges at present as stated in the bill, he said.

With this, Falah proposed that the bill be sent back to committee for further review.

However, PNC MP for Central Hithadhoo Ahmed Azaan, who initially did not vote for the bill, proposed to reject the bill. He said that there is no reason to debate further on the bill when the Attorney General has also said that some of the amendments in it contravene the Constitution.

MP for Huraa Dr Anara Naeem said in debate that it is important to allow sufficient time and properly review bills proposed to parliament. In contrast, this bill was rushed through, and she welcomes the President's decision to send the bill back without ratification.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Kendhoo constituency Mauroof Zakir said that the party had repeatedly highlighted that the bill contravenes the Constitution, with a petition signed by multiple lawyers also having been submitted to the committee. He then pointed out that Parliament's Counsel General had also raised the same issue. He alleged that the parliament had ignored all these concerns and rushed through with passing the bill on orders of the President, adding that it was done to bring a halt to the case on MPs loss of seat being heard at the Supreme Court.

Falah raised a procedural point and highlighted that the President had not said that the bill was unconstitutional. However, the Attorney General's advice stated that the bill's stipulations for removal of judges contravene the policies set in the Constitution.

The parliament passed the bill of amendments to the Judicature Act while a case on revocation of a Constitutional amendment of MPs' loss of seat was ongoing at the Supreme Court. The bill was passed in parliament while a hearing in the case was scheduled at the Supreme Court. The case is now halted after three judges of the Supreme Court were placed on suspension as the Anti Corruption Commission investigates cases against them. One of the three, Judge HusnuSuood, has since resigned.