The parliament’s vote to extend the state of emergency was constitutionally valid since a quorum of 43 members was not required to take the vote, the Supreme Court of the Maldives ruled, legalising the state of emergency that is currently in place.
The Supreme Court Monday night responded to the parliament’s resolution to seek its referral on the disputed matter of the constitutionally mandated number of parliamentarians to be present when voting on a matter that requires “public compliance”, as per Article 87 (b) of the Constitution, on the vote that extended the state of emergency by 30-days.
The court had ruled that the parliament’s vote to extend the state of emergency was constitutionally valid since it was not a decree that the general public has to observe, as the president’s declaration did not suspend any laws that would affect the citizens directly.
Further, the top court had concurred with the parliament, and stated that Section 38 of Parliament Regulations does not list ‘state of emergency’ as an issue that requires public compliance, in its interpretation of Article 87 (b) of the Constitution on Monday's ruling and noted that the Section highlights matters voted in the parliament regarding Public Law and Private Law.
Therefore, the Supreme Court had ruled that the parliament vote should be taken in accordance with Article 86 of the Constitution, which states that at least twenty-five per cent of the members should be present in the parliament to constitute a quorum.
While the court verified the validity of the state of emergency Monday, it had issued a temporary order last Wednesday to enforce the parliament's decision, until it gives its official referral on the disputed matter.
Article 87 (b) of the Constitution states that voting on any matter requiring compliance by citizens can only be undertaken when half of the total membership of the parliament is present at the voting – which means that at least 43 members must be present at the parliament. However, only 38 pro-government members were present at the sitting that extended the state of emergency, since the opposition MPs had boycotted the vote after deeming it to be unconstitutional.
The approved resolution on the state of emergency reinstated some of the Articles of the Constitution which were initially suspended when the president declared the emergency on February 5. The reinstated Articles are Article 100: Removal of President or Vice President, Article 101: Vote of no confidence in a member of the Cabinet, Article 113: Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, and Article 228: Removal of Prosecutor General from office.
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