Parliament's Committee of the Whole House has passed the bill on reduction of cigarette duties without bringing any changes to it. 

The bill was passed unanimously by the 69 members present for voting. 

After heated debates, the bill was accepted to parliament last Wednesday through the unanimous votes of 49 members present. 

The preliminary debate featured heated exchanges, with one party accusing the other of theft.  

Ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MPs claimed that the government had raised duty on cigarettes as they had expected many to take up smoking cigarettes following the ban on vapes. However, research had shown that this had not come to be, they said. 

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members claimed that PNC statements regarding the increase and decrease in cigarette duties were illogical. 

PNC's Baarah MP Ibrahim Shujau retorted that PNC members had always been clear about the reasons behind bringing changes to cigarette duties. 

In today's meeting of the Committee of the Whole House, some members verbally said that the bill needs certain changes, but no such changes were officially proposed. Hence, the bill was passed as is.