The bill submitted on behalf of the government to lower the duty levied on a cigarette from MVR 8 to MVR 4 was accepted by the Parliament today.

Following heated debates during today's sitting of the Parliament, the bill was passed for acceptance with the unanimous consensus of the 49 members who participated in the vote taken for the matter.

Members of the opposition MDP did not participate in any vote taken during today's sitting, including the vote to pass the bill. Following arguments that took place on the floor, some MDP members were escorted out after being named, while some members were not even present.

Speaker of the Parliament Abdul Raheem Abdulla decided from the chair that the bill, proposed on behalf of the government by the Member for Komandoo constituency Mohamed Ibrahim to amend the Import Export Act to lower cigarette duty, will be evaluated by the Committee of the Whole Parliament. Sending a bill to the Committee of the Whole Parliament is a procedure generally practiced in the Parliament to expedite the work on it. The debate on the bill to lower cigarette duty grew heated during today's sitting, with political parties also trading accusations of theft against each other.

During the debate, PNC members stated that the government initially increased the cigarette duty because many people might switch to cigarettes following the ban on vapes.

However, those members stated that studies have revealed this did not happen. When some members of the opposition MDP stated that the remarks made by PNC members regarding the raising and lowering of cigarette duties do not align, the Member for Baarashu constituency belonging to the PNC, Ibrahim Shujau, stated that PNC members were previously and are currently speaking about the reasons why the change to the duty had to be brought.

"That is the [harm] being received from vapes, this ongoing destruction of a generation; after banning it, we then came to a consideration, a concern that the community might migrate to tobacco once vapes were banned. That is a concern we have even today," Shujau said.

He stated that this concern exists even today, but nevertheless, when it was studied, it became known that people who were using vapes did not migrate to tobacco when that variety was banned. He also stated that this was due to the firm measures implemented by the government. He added that the change now has to be brought to the cigarette duty in light of scientific studies alongside a "total recommendation."