Tag: presidential veto

Parliament overrides presidential veto on sole traders bill

Parliament today passed a bill on sole traders, which was previously vetoed by President Dr Mohamed Waheed, with the unanimous consent of all 53 MPs participating in the vote.

Under article 91(b) of the constitution, a bill returned for reconsideration and passed by a majority of total membership of parliament has to be “assented by the President and published in the government gazette.”

MPs also voted unanimously to pass a bill on arbitration at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis.

Both pieces of legislation were submitted in late 2011 under the economic reform package of the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government. The arbitration bill proposes the introduction of alternative dispute resolution in the Maldives.

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Bill doubling city councillors rejected after presidential veto

An amendment to the Decentralisation Act proposed by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Hassan Latheef and subsequently vetoed by President Mohamed Nasheed was invalidated at parliament yesterday.

The amendment would have doubled the number of city councillors in Male’ City and Addu City.

A motion proposed by DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom to override the veto and pass the bill again did not receive the required 39 votes.

Article 91(b) of the constitution states that “any bill returned to the People’s Majlis for reconsideration shall be assented to by the President and published in the government gazette if the bill, after reconsideration, is passed without any amendments, by a majority of the total membership of the People’s Majlis.”

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President vetoes bill doubling number of city councillors

President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday vetoed the third amendment passed by parliament to the Decentralisation Act last month, a bill that would have doubled the number of city councillors in the capital Male’ as well as Addu City.

The legislation proposed by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Hassan Latheef would have created 11 additional seats on the Male’ City Council and six on the Addu City Council, both of which were won by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

According to a letter from President Mohamed Nasheed informing the Speaker of the reasons for returning the bill for reconsideration, the Attorney General noted that some provisions in the legislation were in conflict with the powers and responsibilities of local councils.

The Attorney General’s legal advice also noted that the creation of additional seats in the city councils would significantly increase government expenditure.

A day after the bill was passed 36-33 on June 22 in a partisan vote, Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that the legislation amounted to “economic sabotage” of the government’s attempts to reduce state expenditure and plug a crippling budget deficit.

“From the outset [of the decentralisation process], the government has been of the position that the total number of councillors should be kept down as much as possible,” he said. “We at the beginning suggested that the total number of councillors should be no more than 220, yet opposition parties like the DRP wanted more.”

In March, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim of the minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) told Minivan News that expenditure on more than 1000 councillors was unsustainable.

The PA MP for Dhiggaru said he believed that the main opposition DRP had been too “heavy handed” in their approach to working with government on devolving decision-making powers to local councils.

“I was advocating that even now, we will work with the MDP to reduce the number of [island] councilors in small areas from five to three posts.  There is simply not enough work for all of them to do,” he said.  “Some opposition took a heavy handed approach meaning there was no need for compromise.  The DRP wanted it their way when it came to each of the wards.”

Nazim claimed that he still hoped to work with the MDP on plans to reduce the number of posts on councils. He said this was particularly the case on smaller islands, boasting populations of less than 1000 people, which could be cut to just three council representatives instead of five.

Nazim was however among the opposition MPs who voted to double the number of city councillors.

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Parliament overrides presidential veto on capital island legislation

Parliament today voted through a bill on determining atoll capital islands for a second time after President Mohamed Nasheed had returned the legislation for reconsideration.

A motion proposed by opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ali Azim to pass the bill again without any changes received 39 votes in favour from the 68 MPs present and voting, the bare minimum required to override a presidential veto.

Under article 91(b), a bill returned for reconsideration and passed by a majority of total membership of parliament has to be “assented by the President and published in the government gazette.”

According to the bill, atoll capital islands listed in the appendix of the constitution when it was ratified on August 7, 2008 shall retain their status unless decided otherwise by a two-thirds majority of an atoll council and approved through a public referendum.

The legislation also lays out a number of steps to be completed before relocation could be considered by atoll councils.

Following the local council elections in February, disputes over atoll administrative centres in Shaviyani and Kaafu atolls led to a tense standoff between islanders and riot police.

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