Tuesday’s parliament sitting concluded amid protests from opposition lawmakers, with its decorum in disarray as most parliamentarians had refused to vote or debate on the matters in the agenda.

Speaker Abdulla Maseeh had heard debates and called for votes on two motions; on appointing a deputy chair to the Civil Service Commission and one to the Human Rights of Commission of the Maldives.

Mohamed Zahid was appointed as deputy chair of the Human Rights Commission with votes from 26 parliamentarians, all aligned with the ruling party. Shaheedh Mohamed was appointed to the Civil Service Commission with 27 votes, also all from lawmakers aligned with the ruling party.

Shaheedh’s appointment was forwarded to the floor by MP Ahmed Nihan, the ruling party’s parliamentary group leader. It was supported by his deputy, MP Riyaz Rasheed.

None of the opposition parliamentarians had participated in the debate.