Lawmakers have at Tuesday’s People’s Majlis sitting criticized Speaker Qasim Ibrahim for reportedly foregoing procedure.

North-Galolhu constituency MP Eva Abdulla and North-Hithadhoo constituency MP Mohamed Aslam, leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party’s parliamentary group criticized Qasim for expediting a bill proposed on Tuesday.

“A bill introduced in the Majlis must go through a reading and has to be reviewed before deliberations. Honourable Speaker, it is evident that you wish to have this bill passed within the day, this is not how it should be done”, MP Aslam said at Speaker Qasim.

MP Eva further likened Qasim’s actions to that of former speaker Mohamed Maseeh, who was heavily criticized for ignoring due process and advised Qasim against it.

The bill in question seeks to repeal a 2015 amendment placing age limits on presidential candidacy. The amendment restricted running for presidency and vice presidency to between 30 years and 60 years of age.

While a bill that lifted the maximum age was submitted by MP Ibrahim Falaah, he has since withdrawn the bill. The bill being deliberated on, on Tuesday, was submitted by Kelaa constituency MP Ali Arif.

While MP Arif’s bill does not seek to lift the maximum age limit in writing, he said during deliberations that he sees it appropriate to lift it as well. Lawmakers have unanimously voted to forward the bill to parliamentary review.