The Parliament has begun it’s first sitting for the third and last session for this year, with the inclusion of opposition-aligned lawmakers who are joining Sunday’s sitting after a 15-month hiatus.
The last Parliament sitting was held on the 01st of August, close to three months back.
Lawmakers aligned with the joint opposition coalition had boycotted Parliament sittings after 12 opposition lawmakers were dismissed from Parliament on the basis of violating a floor-crossing ban, after submitting a no-confidence motion to impeach Speaker Abdulla Maseeh.
Opposition lawmakers have since been accusing Maseeh of carrying out proceedings inside the courthouse out of the legal mandate, asserting that he is sitting as Speaker unlawfully.
While this is the first Parliament sitting to be held since August, Sunday’s sitting began at 9am with 42 lawmakers present.
The Parliament will on Sunday vote on the date to hold President-elect Solih’s oath-taking ceremony alongside considering the motion to repeal former President Mohamed Nasheed’s terrorism conviction, considering Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed’s motion to repeal the Anti-Defection Act and North-Henveiru MP Abdulla Shahid’s motion to repeal the Anti-Defamation Act.
President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who is also representative of Hinnavaru constituency in Parliament, along with Vice President-elect Faisal Naseem, who is also representative of Kaashidhoo constituency in Parliament, join Sunday’s sitting.
President-elect Solih has stated that he will be joining all Parliament sessions up until his inauguration in November.
