Parliament has concluded Monday’s sitting, accepting six bills for consideration after deliberations lasting six hours.
The sitting which began at 9am ended at around 4pm.
The first bill accepted at the sitting was the whistleblower protection bill, proposed by member for north-Galolhu constituency Eva Abdulla. The bill was accepted with the votes of 42 members and was sent for consideration to the committee of independent institutions.
The second bill accepted by Parliament was the one to restore powers to the Environment Protection Agency by amending the tourism law, proposed by south-Hithadhoo member Ali Nizar. The bill proposing to restore powers to EPA which were revoked during former President Abdulla Yameen’s government, was accepted with the votes of 46 members and has been sent for review at the economic committee.
Moreover, the Parliament also accepted the bill proposing to bring amendments to the law on companies with the votes of 46 members. The bill was sent to the economic committee for approval.
The Parliament passed the bill to bring amendments to the Prisons and Parole Act with the votes of 46 members in favor.
The bill to transfer the responsibility of the Academy for Dhivehi language to the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage was also accepted with the votes of 46 members and was sent to the social committee for review.
The last bill, proposed by member for Maradhoo constituency, Ibrahim Shareef, to bring amendments to the export and import act to end duty for products imported for agriculture, was accepted with the votes of 45 members and forwarded for committee review.
At Monday’s sitting, speaker Qasim Ibrahim had drawn criticism from sitting members for his haste in carrying out deliberations for proposed bills.
Stressing that the new speaker is showing similar actions to that of his predecessor, Abdulla Maseeh who resigned due to several no-confidence motions being submitted against him, some lawmakers stated that Qasim must not carry out parliament procedures in such a manner
