Inconsistency in parliament attendance impedes votes

The parliamentary session scheduled for today had to be adjourned as the required quorum for voting was not met.

In the parliament session, Henveyru West MP Hassan Latheef brought up a pressing concern. As per the regulations, Parliament should meet at least three times a week, which is not happening currently.

“The Parliament has a duty to the people and the State. There is a lot of work to be carried out and we cannot afford to continuedly adjourn meetings”, he said. “Postponing parliamentary sessions would only be detrimental to our obligations and the people’s interests, therefore we must continue our work without further delay”.

Deputy Speaker of the Parliament rang the bell for a vote to decide whether to proceed with Hassan’s motion for proceeding with the sessions. However, even after the stipulated five minute window of waiting, the required number of members did not show up.

During today’s session, there were initially 23 members but only 16 members were present at the time of voting. A minimum of 22 members are required to vote.

As a result, the Deputy Speaker decided to temporarily halt Hassan’s motion and vote on it later.

Currently, the majority of MPs are away from Male’ City as they are campaigning for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Some members noted that reducing the number of meetings held in Parliament is normal during the campaign period and MDP MPs who hold majority in the Parliament see no issue with this approach.

However, the Democrats have repeatedly expressed concern over the issue.

Health Minister, Dr Abdulla Khaleel, who was also present today, answered questions from concerned lawmakers about the state of healthcare in the islands of the Maldives.

The minister assured the MPs that the government is taking action to address these issues.

The first reading of two resolutions by North Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla was heard in session today. The resolution on foreign policy is currently under debate.