Parliament sitting halted due to power cut

Today's Parliament sitting has been halted after electricity was interrupted at the parliament premises.

The power cut came at around 13:20 hrs this afternoon while the sitting was ongoing. With the power interruption, the live feed of the sitting was cut off, and the proceedings came to a stop.

After about ten minutes, electricity was restored through the use of a back up generator. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim announced that the generator was providing electricity to the parliament chambers alone.

"We have all the functions, and we are livestreaming as well. But I do not know how long we can proceed with the back up generator. Hence, I intend to bring today's sitting to an end," Nazim said.

The rooms in parliament where committee meetings are held also do not have electricity, thereby not allowing committee meetings to proceed either.

Earlier, the Human Rights and Gender Committee had planned to meet officials from the Social and Family Ministry at 14:00hrs today.

The Regulations Committee had also scheduled work on amending the Parliament Standing Order this afternoon.

While the Parliament offices are facing this sudden power cut, MPs had earlier today debated on the issue of rising electricity bills.