Bill on presidential commissions at standstill due to MPs: Riyaz

Government’s joint Parliamentary Group (PG) leader Abdulla Riyaz has said it was likely that the bill to give more authority to presidential commissions is at a standstill because it conflicts with the interest of some MPs.

Monday’s sitting concluded without calling for a vote on the bill, since the sitting lacked the quorum.

While 42 MPs were at Monday’s sitting, 43 MPs are required to be in attendance before a vote can be taken on a bill that affects the public.

Riyaz said that even those members in attendance had left before the vote call and that they included members of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP).

He said that there are government-affiliated MPs who do not wish to pass the bill.

Highlighting that the joint PG released a three-line whip to vote for the bill, Riyaz said that they will find out which MPs were absent from the sitting and which ones had left the chamber and penalize them.

In a tweet after Monday’s sitting, Husnu Suood, the president of the commission on murders and disappearances, said that voters should vote for parliamentary candidates who have the time to attend sittings and that the presidential commissions need bills to be passed quickly to make their work more efficient.

The government coalition earlier tried to hold an extraordinary sitting to pass the bill, but it did not receive enough support from MPs.