The parliament sitting today was again cancelled after the opposition and ruling party MPs clashed over the issue of cabinet endorsement.
Newly-appointed spokesperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Alhan Fahmy told Minivan News that the parliament sitting became heated after the MDP parliamentary group leader MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik took a point of order saying that the cabinet endorsement should only be included in the agenda after amending parliament’s rules of procedure.
“Moosa said that parliament should only proceed with the issue after amending the rules of procedure,’’ said Alhan. ‘’He said that there was no procedure to follow when endorsing the cabinet ministers.’’
The opposition MPs disagreed and the sitting was concluded.
The Supreme Court ruled last Thursday that while article 171(i) of the parliament’s rules of procedure does not contradict with constitution, it cannot be used in endorsing cabinet ministers.
Attorney General Dr Amhed Ali Sawad said the ruling “clearly establishes that even if the Majlis does something outside its stated precinct in the constitution, such an act will be ultra vires (beyond its powers)”.
“In terms of legal precedent it has established a Supreme Court endorsement of separation of powers theory in the constitution, and identifies the separate legal precincts of the executive, legislature and judiciary,” he added.
However he noted that the Supreme Court decision left it open to the parties to resolve the deadlock – which currently shows no sign of happening.
Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan claimed that “once again MDP MPs deliberately forced the speaker to cancel the parliament after making disruptive remarks.’’
Nihan claimed that MDP wanted to “use their power inside the parliament rather than following the rules of procedure.”
‘’If the parliament sitting is to proceeded, than the ruling party must keep aside their stubbornness and let the sittings proceed according to the rules of procedure,’’ Nihan said.
Niahan said DRP parliamentarians have decided not to endorse ministers “including Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed and Defence minister Ameen Faisal, for they have conducted actions against the constitution.”
He also said that DRP’s planned protests will be ongoing and it were delayed out of consideration for students’ exams.
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Gosh, can we get this country moving on to more important things instead of the Parliament acting like idiots sand wasting time. We are not paying you to be totally ineffective!!!
Do you realize out shops are running out of commodities...? Its pathetic to see the small businesses having to close soon..MDP - you promised to make sure that there is a fair distribution of wealth...but it will not happen at this rate...
I for one do not see it absolutely necessary to endorse all Ministers together. If there are issues over some, take them out and make the decision separately for God sake!!! Be sensible ...Maybe Moosa should be voted out of his seat...
Unless we arrest these DRP thugs, we cannot do anything in this country. They have no good intentions while the guys are getting fat big salaries from us. For God sake, let us take them to account one by one. If Anni is not willing to break this dead lock, let us take justice to their doors.
MDP is stopping the Majilis in the hope that they could get the majority in a near future. The supreme court has ruled on MDP concern, so why cant MDP continue with the process.. Shame on MDP and Anni
Approving all the Ministers together is against the spirit and intention of the Constitution. The idea of putting up Ministers for approval is so that Parliament has the opportunity to question and select them individually and this was the way it was done before the resignation stunt. Otherwise the Constitution becomes a CON.
Clearly this type of "mass approval" makes Parliament's approval meaningless and a mockery of the Constitution. I am not a supporter of the DRP but in this case it is clear that their position is right.
If MDP was in opposition and Golhaa was President, I am sure even this idea would have been seen as a betrayal of democracy and MDP would have made sure the overseas community knew about it.
Why does the DRP not do this? Maybe because they are obsessed with personal gain and power and do not really have an interest in protecting our new democracy?
Best solution and a releif for the people is to leave this unknown democracy and declare once again a dictatorship. We can think of this Democratic System when we are ready.
In the name of democracy, let us all unite!
MPs should not be paid, lest they don't do their job!
@fenbadda
Unite for what!
oh, boy. here we go again...
now i am sure none of those MPs think about the Maldivian Citizen. they are worried so much about approving cabinet while we suffer from lack of laws and a falling economy.
Those who come up with "I'm not DRP nor MDP..." but still call for the govt to resign, be reminded that this is as far as we got in the known history to eradicate corruption and give a voice to the suppressed. So if you want to further this, think twice and please be constructive!
The above comment was for a lot of articles in general. There's a lot of fire and blankets thrown around, but let's look at the bigger picture even for recent times. We don't know (or maybe we do but don't want to talk about) what happened to atleast half the money the country got during the last few decades; and we never had any freedom of speech in the past. And there are so many elements trying to protect and continue that past. Why don't we atleast look comparatively and constructively, considering the time since we got this "democracy" (not all the pillars are democratic still), and do our bit to get this system right fellas!
Some morons in our country voted to elect Reeko Mossa as an MP. The nation suffers.