Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has said last night that decreasing the number of Supreme Court judges from seven to five will be an attack on the independence of the judiciary.
Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail has said last night that decreasing the number of Supreme Court judges from seven to five will be an attack on the independence of the judiciary.
A bill has been submitted to Parliament proposing that the number of Supreme Court Judges be decreased from seven to five. The bill was proposed as a private submission by ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP for Holhudhoo AbduSattar Mohamed.
Fayyaz called on MPs to refrain from lending support to what he described as 'a cowardly and dirty act' from the government. He also called on the judiciary to stand up and demonstrate against this move.
"This is a huge step backwards as a country in regards to democracy and judicial independence. When a constitutional case was submitted to Supreme Court, [they] threaten the judges, take action against them, threaten to dismiss them, and now are trying to decrease the number of judges," Fayyaz said.
Fayyaz stated that the best actions taken to date towards judicial reform in the country is the changes brought to the Supreme Court bench in the years 2019 to 2020.
The Supreme Court Judges' bench currently consists of Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan, Judge HusnuSuood, Judge Azmiralda Zahir, Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir, Judge Aisha Shujune Mohamed, Judge Dr Mohamed Ibrahim and Judge Ali Rasheed.
Sattar cited his belief that the 'aspirations' of the Maldivian people can be reached through changing the Supreme Court to its previous status as his reasoning for the submitting the bill.
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