Endorsing of cabinet scheduled for Wednesday

The parliament has scheduled the  formal endorsement of cabinet ministers for Wednesday.

President Mohamed Nasheed’s cabinet ministers resigned earlier this year in protest against what they claimed was the opposition-majority parliament’s obstruction of their constitution duties.

They were reappointed shortly afterwards, but this has not yet been formally approved by parliament, as required.

Speaker Abdulla Shahid announced that the parliamentary committee findings would be presented to the parliament Wednesday.

Haveeru cited Parliamentary Committee Chair Hussein Mohamed as saying that the cabinet ministers did not cooperate with the parliament procedure.

“So we decided that the parliament would decide on the matter. We did not get their cooperation. The committee concluded its work and sent the report to the parliament last term. I am sure that the matter will be scheduled soon,” he said.

The opposition-controlled committee decided to interview each minister separately.

The government however insists that parliament is required to endorse the cabinet as a single unit, and not ‘pick and choose’ ministers. President Nasheed has stated that cabinet ministers will  respond to parliament enquiries only under articles 98 and 140 of the constitution.