Abdulla Sodiq (Sobe'), who won the by-election and became a member of the 20th Parliament, has been appointed to two committees after opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protested in Parliament that he had not been appointed to a "good committee".
Sodiq was appointed to the Committee on Decentralization and the Committee on Environment and Climate Change.
The Parliament's Committee on Decentralization monitors and conducts research on decentralized operations, and takes the necessary steps. The committee manages the Local Government Authority (LGA) and the local councils.
The Parliament's Committee on Environment and Climate Change monitors the Environment Ministry, the Environmental Regulatory Authority (ERA), the Maldives Meteorological Service (Met) and the Utility Regulatory Authority (URA). The committee is responsible for giving the appropriate recommendations regarding the efforts of the agencies.
On 24th June, nine out of the thirteen members of the parliamentary group of the minority party, MDP, were escorted out of the parliament floor 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 was being handled.
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 only happened on that day.
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. 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.
