Parliament Speaker Mohamed Aslam announced on Sunday that the legislative would not be abiding by the Supreme Court's temporary order regarding the counting of parliament member total.
Parliament Speaker Mohamed Aslam announced on Sunday that the legislative would not be abiding by the Supreme Court's temporary order regarding the counting of parliament member total.
He made the announcement following the parliament vote on the amendment proposed by Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau of MDP.
The amendment proposes a change to how the total number of parliamentarians is counted.
The amendment was voted in favour by 45 parliamentarians.
Upon completion of the vote, the Speaker announced that Parliament will once again resume counting the total as it had done before, and the total now amounts to 80.
Decisions of the General Purpose Committee are not usually voted on in parliament. However, in Sunday's sitting, the parliament voted on an amendment brought to the regulations by the General Purpose Committee.
For the votes taken on Sunday, the total number of parliamentarians was considered as 87. This is in accordance with the Supreme Court's temporary order. However, upon completion of the voting on the issue in parliament, the Speaker announced that the parliament would revert back to counting the total as it had done before.
Members voiced concerns about the Supreme Court's ruling in parliament today. Opposition parties Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and The Democrats' members claimed that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to interfere in the work and amendments to regulations conducted by the Parliament.
Speaker of Parliament Aslam also claimed that the apex court had issued the temporary order without first having decided whether the Constitution has been breached, stating that this is of deep concern. He said that parliament sittings can only be conducted once it can be established what the quorum of the parliament is.
However, minority leader Fonadhoo MP Moosa Siraj of ruling People's National Congress (PNC) maintained that it is clearly stated in the parliament regulations that the parliament cannot hold debates on an issue which is ongoing in a case in court.
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