Parliament sitting to be held on Sunday

A special sitting of parliament will be held on Sunday (September 22) upon written request by 29 MPs, according to a statement by the parliament secretariat today.

Amended parliamentary rules allow sittings to be held during recess upon request by one-third of the 77 MPs in the People’s Majlis. Parliament broke for its customary one-month recess after the second session of the year concluded in August.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary group officially made the request for a special sitting yesterday (September 18) after the party’s national executive committee requested the majority party to take steps through the parliament to “stop undue influence of political parties in the judiciary.”

The only item on the agenda for Sunday’s sitting, according to the secretariat, will be consideration of the motion submitted by the MDP to hold state institutions accountable in light of alleged efforts by political parties to “destroy constitutional rules and principles and move away from democracy” after former President Mohamed Nasheed secured 45.45 percent of the vote in the September 7 presidential election.

Third-placed candidate in the first round of the polls, MP Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party (JP), has alleged vote rigging by the Elections Commission (EC) and contested the results at the Supreme Court.