MDP Parliamentary Group stated today that nine out of the thirteen members of the parliamentary group of the minority party, MDP, were escorted out of the parliament floor today due to a protest regarding the manner in which the appointment of newly elected member Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe) to a "good committee" of the parliament is being handled.
Following an argument that took place before voting on the matters scheduled for voting in today's sitting of the Parliament, nine members of MDP were named and escorted out of the chamber. It was not clear from the live broadcast of the parliament what the argument was about.
In a media briefing held outside the parliament by the MDP Parliamentary Group afterward, the leader of the group and Minority Leader of the Parliament, Ibrahim Nazil, stated that the concern expressed by MDP members on the parliament floor today was not something that happened today alone.
According to him, it was a concern that had existed since the day Sodiq took his oath as the member for Hithadhoo North constituency after winning the by-election for that constituency. Nazil also stated that they have been working since the first day to include Sodiq in a parliamentary committee.
"On the first day, the answer I received was that Sodiq could be given good committees depending on how he performs in the parliament," Nazil said.
Nazil also stated that according to the ratio under the parliamentary regulations, MDP must be given slots in two committees and that MDP must have one slot in every committee of the parliament. He said that since that is the case, they had requested to be given two additional slots, and that the person who has to make a decision on the matter is not the parliamentary leader of the PNC.
"We are talking about things that can be done by the parliament secretariat. We spoke about this with the SG. I shared this talk with the Speaker of the Parliament," Nazil said.
He further stated that while the biggest thing done in the parliament is the work carried out in committees, the parliament is acting in a manner that prevents Sodiq from doing that work, and that they only agree to provide slots from the committees that do the least work in the parliament. According to Nazil, the parliament only agrees to give Sodiq slots from committees that do the least work, such as the Ethics Committee and the Petition Committee.
However, he said that as the minority party of the parliament, MDP members want slots in committees where they can work as much as possible, and that there is no loss that would be caused to the majority party (PNC) in doing so.
"Usually there are 11 slots in a committee. Even at most, we can only be given two slots from two committees. These individuals have nine. What is it that these individuals should be afraid of?" Nazil said.
Nazil alleged that the PNC refuses to give two slots to MDP from two good committees in order to harass the MDP parliamentary group.
Sodiq was elected to the Hithadhoo North constituency in the by-election held on the sixth of this month, after the Supreme Court ruled that the seat of the previous PNC member for the constituency, Mohamed Sinan, was vacant due to a proven debt. Sodiq contested against Ahmed Saeed (Soda) from the ruling PNC in that election.
