The extraordinary parliament sitting held on Monday, July 3, concluded without proceeding to form the standing committees.
The proceeding was halted and the sitting adjourned due to the change in the proportion of parties represented in the Parliament following the exit of Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Central Hithadhoo MP Ahmed Rasheed (Checkmark Rasheed) from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
The parliament entered a deadlock after the no-confidence motions against Speaker Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla, resulting in the conclusion of its first session before Eid al-Adha with several key issues left pending without resolution.
Following the conclusion of the parliamentary session without addressing the standing committee issue, MDP Parliamentary Group leader Mohamed Aslam, sent a letter requesting the scheduling of additional sittings outside of the session. MP Aslam emphasized the need to resolve the standing committee matter and revise the parliament regulations. He added that these additional sittings were necessary to conclude the no-confidence motions against the Speakers.
In response to MP Aslam's request, a sitting was scheduled for Monday morning to address the standing committee issues. However, the sitting was interrupted when Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef, who chaired the sitting, announced that both Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Ahmed Rasheed had resigned from the MDP on June 21.
MP Afeef highlighted that the resignation of Mohamed Nasheed and Central Hithadhoo MP has changed the composition of the ruling party in the committees, necessitating a resolution.
“The recent development’s report should be circulated among the members before a sitting can be scheduled,” MP Afeef said at the conclusion of Monday’s sitting.
After the ruling party submitted no-confidence motions against the Speakers, both Nasheed and Eva voluntarily recused themselves from presiding as the chair of parliament sittings, which further halted the legislative proceedings. Their refusal to preside over the sittings resulted in the cancellation of two scheduled sittings. However, Nasheed resumed his role as the Chair on June 22, stating that he was prioritizing the "public's best interest."
During the parliament sitting held on June 22, the standing committee issue was included in the agenda, and discussions on the matter took place on the floor. However, Nasheed chose not to proceed with a vote on the issue during the sitting.
Although Nasheed and the Central Hithadhoo MP left the ruling party the day before, this was not brought to the parliament’s attention during the June 22 sitting.
Due to the resignation of 13 members aligned with Speaker Nasheed from MDP, there was a change in the member composition of the parliament, which necessitated the formation of new standing committees.
