Tag: thalassemia control bill

President returns thalassemia bill for reconsideration

President Mohamed Nasheed has vetoed legislation on thalassemia control passed by parliament last month and returned the bill for reconsideration.

According to the President’s Office, the Attorney General identified legal issues in the enactment of the law and recommended amendments to allow thalassemia patients to be covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme Act.

President Nasheed sent a letter to Speaker Abdulla Shahid containing the Attorney General’s legal advice and issues identified for amendment.

The President however ratified the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority bill passed by parliament on December 27. The new institution will be tasked with regulating domestic air travel and establish mechanisms to ensure safety in the air.

The Civil Aviation Authority becomes an independent entity outside the civil service with legal status and powers to enforce the Act. While a cabinet minister is to oversee the authority, its five-member board of directors would be appointed by the President.

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Fuvamulah City Council Bill and Thalassemia Control Bill sent to committee

The Majlis yesterday sent the Thalassemia Control Bill and Fuvamulah City Council Bill to a parliamentary committee for review.

The Thalassemia Bill was passed last year and was sent to President Mohamed Nasheed for ratification.  However, Nasheed vetoed the Bill and recommended that parliament reconsider some articles in it.

In light of this request, the president sent a letter on the Thalassemia bill to parliament that stated that the Attorney General had identified conflicting articles in the bill relating to providing health services such as a centre to additionally help combat blood disease.

According to the letter, article 6[a] of the Bill states that a  “Thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies Centre shall be established, whilst article 6[b] states that after this centre is established, the National Thalassemia Centre will be abolished,” the President wrote.

‘’National Thalassemia Centre is operated by Male’ Health Corporation Services Limited and lawfully the government has no authority to take a premises belonging to a company.”

Most of the opposition MPs in the parliament regretted that the president had refused to ratify the Thalassemia Control Bill claiming that Nasheed would never ratify a bill that was designed to generate potential benefit for the citizens.

‘’Today we are seeing the Thalassemia Control Bill, which was passed with a high majority of the parliament being vetoed,’’ said main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Mausoom as well as Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) Deputy leader and MP Riyaz Rasheed in parliament.

The parliamentary session became heated as MPs debated the bill, with the Majlis  Speaker asking Maafannu-South MP Ibrahim Rasheed to leave the parliament chamber.

The session was then terminated until he left.

Out of the present 67 MPs, 65 voted to send the Bill to Social Issues committee.

After the break, the Fuvamulah City Council Bill was also scheduled, but MPs did not debate it.  Instead, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Shifaq Mufeeq who presented the Bill was given the opportunity to say his last words on the legislation before it went to a vote.

Shifaq said that he presented the bill in October last year hoping that  it would get passed before the Local Councils Elections in February 2011.

The speaker then called for a vote to decide whether the parliament would accept the bill.

Out of 67 MPs present, 53 voted to accept it and 11 did not vote either way.

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