The second extraordinary sitting of the People’s Majlis has been scheduled for Monday.

The second extraordinary sitting of the People’s Majlis will begin at 9am on July 10.

On the agenda of the second extraordinary Majlis sitting is the formation of permanent committees.

The parliament began preparations to hold extraordinary sittings, after the endorsement of one third of lawmakers sought an extraordinary Majlis sitting, on June 22.

The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) sought an extraordinary sitting, with leader of the MDP Parliamentary Group, Mohamed Aslam having addressed a letter to Speaker and Former President Mohamed Nasheed, stressing that important work was pending by the time Majlis went into recess.

Concerns were also raised over the lack of inclusion in the parliamentary rules, which were to be included in the agenda, for the sitting held on June 22.

The request to hold extraordinary sittings was made under Article 45 (d) of the People’s Majlis Standing Orders, which requires the People’s Majlis to hold the extraordinary sittings as requested, within the next 14 days. The 14 days will expire by July 6.

The first extraordinary parliament sitting was held on July 3, however, it was wrapped up within three minutes.

The sitting was presided over by MP for Vilufushi constituency Hassan Afeef.

The sitting was concluded citing changes to the parliament’s registry following the resignation of lawmakers from MDP, with which the parliament cannot proceed with the constitution of the parliament’s standing committee.

The main ruling MDP had sought to be notified of the agenda beforehand, with this decision.

Some of the pending work at the People’s Majlis when it went into recess include a no-confidence motion against the Deputy Speaker, as well as no-confidence motions against Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid and Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath.

In addition to this, work related to institutions, such as the appointment of a member to the Elections Commission and the Maldives Broadcasting Commission have also been halted at committee stage.

Several other important bills are also pending.

The second session of the People’s Majlis commenced on May 18, with 14 sittings held throughout the session.

Parliament will resume for the third session, in August 2023.