The Democrats have accused Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer of violating the Constitution, calling for action against him.
Minister Ameer chose not to attend today's parliamentary sitting, where the budget and supplementary budgets for next year were placed on the agenda, following advice from Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath. AG Riffath advised against presenting the budget in the sitting, citing Parliament Regulations require addressing the no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed before proceeding with further work.
In a press conference held in Parliament today, The Democrats' PG Leader and Central Henveyru MP, Ali Azim, said that the Attorney General cannot advise anyone to act against the Constitution. MP Azim said that Minister Ameer violated the Constitution by following AG Riffath's advice.
"Action should be taken against Minister Ameer at some point in time. Some court, some authority should take action against him. Article 96(A) of the Constitution clearly states that the budget should be presented in Parliament. That it has to be submitted by the minister," MP Azim said.
"Hence, the minister has violated the Constitution."
Azim believes that there are no obstacles hindering the progress of budgetary work in Parliament.
He said that filing a case is equivalent to moving a motion to the Parliament floor, and Speaker Nasheed's no-confidence motion has not yet been submitted to the Parliament floor.
Therefore, there is no situation where other work cannot be done without a decision on the no-confidence motion, he said. MP Azim also noted that previously, other work was carried out during the period after Speaker Nasheed's case was submitted to the Parliament, but not yet heard on the Parliament floor.
However, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) believes that once the no-confidence motion is moved and the notice period expires, no other work can be conducted in Parliament without a decision being made on the matter. MDP has also filed a constitutional case in the Supreme Court seeking such an interpretation.
According to Regulation 211 of the Parliament Regulations, the Finance Minister has to present the state budget every year before November 1. MP Azim said that the current actions taken by MDP are not in accordance with the law; they are an attempt to hinder the incoming government.
MDP PG Leader Mohamed Aslam said in a press conference in Parliament today that the party believes the budget has been submitted in accordance with the regulations. He mentioned that the minister sent the budget to parliament, and it was now up to the parliament to hold a session to announce the details of the budget.
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