Parliament resumes with cabinet endorsement on the agenda

Parliament continues to debate endorsing the reappointment of cabinet this morning as some opposition groups pledge to block any and all appointments, an issue that has immobilised the legislature with forced cancellations over the past month.

Voting on the cabinet issue is due to take place at the end of today’s sitting. The outcome will be covered by Minivan News as it happens.

During the 20-minute debate, opposition People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla declared that the party would not vote to approve any ministers.

“We have decided not to approve any of the ministers that resigned,” he said. “Whether [the issue] is sent to committee and brought back or any other way it is done.”

PA’s coalition partner, main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), meanwhile has an undisclosed list of ministers it intends not to approve.

MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) continue to insist that the issue should be sent back to committee or removed from the agenda until parliamentary rules of procedure can be amended. These amendments relate to a Supreme Court ruling invalidating a provision allowing presidential nominees to the cabinet to be interviewed by committee.

MDP MP for Madaveli, Mohamed Nazim, said today that the Speaker cancelled previous sittings to seek a compromise between the two main parties, but “to this day I am not aware that any solution has been found. My parliamentary group leader has definitely not informed me that a particular solution has been found after discussions.”