Parliamentarians have expressed concerns about the absence of a parliamentary sitting today despite the numerous existing crucial work that requires prompt attending. They assert that the notice of cancellation cannot be accepted without due reason.
A number of parliamentarians has expressed concerns regarding the failure to hold the parliament sitting today, citing that many unconcluded existing works that the parliaments must attend to continue to remain pending.
While concluding the last session of the previous week, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Ahmed Saleem had declared that the first sitting of this week will be held today in conformity with the general policies.
However, a sitting for today was not scheduled. Although the Parliament Secretariat had notified the members of the cancelled meeting, no reason for cancellation was provided in the notice.
In order to express his concerns about the absence of a meeting, President of The Democrats party and West Henveiru Constituency parliamentarian, Hassan Latheef had taken to the social platform X, stating that the absence of meetings is not an acceptable procedure and asserted that the sessions must be held in accordance with the regulations.
“Parliamentary Group leaders cannot advise the Speaker of Parliament to cancel the sessions. There is a lot of work to be completed by the parliament,” Latheef, who previously served as the chairperson of Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), asserted.
Additionally, the PG leader of The Democrats, Ali Azim, had also expressed discontentment with the absence of sittings today. He remarked that the cancellation of sessions without the provision of a justifiable reason cannot be accepted.
As per the parliamentary regulations, three sessions of the parliament must be conducted each week. The agenda of each meeting will be determined by the Speaker of the Parliament.
As believed so far, today’s parliamentary sitting was cancelled following unofficial deliberations between Parliamentary Group leaders and the Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Aslam. A parliamentarian possessing knowledge of the details of this deliberation shared with Mihaaru News that with the approach of elections, sessions are generally held solely for matters of important urgency.
He further remarked that as the parliamentary elections is slated to commence of the 17th of the next month, most parliamentarians are busy engaging with their respective constituencies for the campaign.
Alongside the absence of the parliamentary session, the meeting of the petition committee scheduled for today was cancelled as well.
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