The issue of Parliament members who joined the ruling PNC after being elected as independent candidates is set to be submitted to the Supreme Court.
The former member for the Kendhoo constituency, Ali Hussain, decided to take the cases of a total of eight members to the Supreme Court. He stated that there are currently about six members in the Parliament whose seats have been lost, and work has begun to submit their cases to the Supreme Court.
Ali Hussain initiated this work following the judgment rendered in a case he previously submitted to the Supreme Court to invalidate the constitutional amendment brought by the Parliament, which states that members will lose their seats if they change the party through which they were elected. In that case, he had requested the court to rule that the amendment would not apply to current members of Parliament.
However, the Supreme Court ruled that the floor-crossing amendment brought to the Constitution will indeed apply to the members of the current Parliament.
The members who joined PNC after being elected to the Parliament as independents include:
- Anara Naeem – Huraa constituency
- Mohamed Alsan Ahmed – Thinadhoo South constituency
- Ahmed Riza – Thimarafushi constituency
- Mohamed Shameen Habeeb – Kurendhoo constituency
- Yasin Abdulla – Naifaru constituency
- Azim Abdul Azeez – Villingili constituency
- Ahmed Zameer – Machangolhi Central constituency
- Mohamed Rashid – Nolhivaram constituency
The Supreme Court's judgment regarding the constitutional amendment stated that following the ratification of the amendment, it will apply to the members of the current sitting Parliament. It also stated that there is nothing illegal about applying this amendment to the current members.
