Parliament sitting to be held on Monday
Reports indicate that PPM members are to appoint two new justices to the Supreme Court
Military officers block opposition parliamentarians from entering the parliament premises
Reports have surfaced that a parliament sitting is to be held on Monday.
RaajjeMV understands that members of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) are the ones working to hold a sitting on Monday, following Supreme Court’s final verdict against two of its justices, who were recently found guilty of obstruction. According to a recent amendment to the law, they will lose their seats after Supreme Court ruling.
Hence, reports indicate that PPM members are to appoint two new justices to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court, on June 20, upheld the guilty verdict issued by the Criminal Court on Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed for 'influencing lower court verdicts'. However, their lawyers argue that they have not lost their seats, and said that they will be asking the court to review the case.
It is important to note that parliament sessions have not been held regularly since 2017, and has only been held to pass the various agendas of the ruling party.
In addition, parliamentarians of the Maldives Joint Opposition continue to boycott the sessions, noting that they are being held ‘unlawfully’. Furthermore, 12 opposition parliamentarians have been unseated by the Elections Commission, but are yet to hold a vote to elect a representative for these constituencies.
While this is the sixth month of the year, only 13 parliament sittings have been held so far this year. The last sitting was held on April 29 and parliament has been in recess since.
While parliament sittings are divided into three sessions, the first session is from February till the end of April. Parliament will go into a month-long recess afterwards, with the second session to start of the first day of June.
