The Parliament's General Committee today passed a motion to give Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed one hour to respond to Parliament regarding the no-confidence motion submitted against him by the opposition MDP Parliamentary Group.
At the meeting held today by the General Committee, which determines parliamentary procedures, Feydhoo constituency MP Ibrahim Didi proposed granting the minister one hour to respond to Parliament, alongside allocating one hour for members to debate the issue.
The proposal was passed unanimously by the members present at the committee meeting.
The procedure followed in Parliament is an approach where the time allocated for debating a bill or issue is distributed among political parties represented in Parliament based on their member count, while also allocating a specific amount of time to independent members.
The resolution submitted to Parliament on the first of this month, signed by 13 MDP members, states that Saeed has neglected to fulfill the responsibilities set out in the Constitution. It also alleges that he neglected his duty to remain accountable to Parliament and engaged in actions prohibited for ministers.
Therefore, the resolution proposes declaring that confidence in Saeed has been lost and removing him from office.
Issues cited in the no-confidence resolution:
- The unending rise in the black market price of dollars and extreme inflation in the price of goods
- Failure to manage state assets and funds with integrity
- Obstructing accountability to the Parliament
- Failure to protect private businesses
- Amendments brought to the SEZ law and the threat to state sovereignty
Furthermore, the resolution highlighted that although various massive projects were announced with claims that they would transform the Maldivian economic landscape, those projects remain stalled.
These include the failure to generate USD 400 million in revenue from bunkering services, the non-commencement of physical work on the Maldives Economic Gateway, and the failure to launch services of the Development Bank and the Maldives International Financial Centre.
According to the resolution, Saeed avoided his responsibilities when summoned to Parliament by delivering unrelated political speeches instead of directly answering questions posed by members.
The resolution also alleges that instead of protecting the interests of private entrepreneurs, state-owned enterprises were introduced into general commercial markets, leaving numerous businesses and individuals stranded.
