Previous governments had tried to suppress parliament, says Speaker

The parliament had remained dormant for a long period as previous governments had worked to “suppress” it, says Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

Former President Nasheed said this at the induction programme held for the members of the People’s Majlis on Thursday morning, by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

Speaking there, Nasheed emphasized that the Maldivian parliament is “one of the oldest in South Asia” and that it “has been struggling to find its voice for the last 100 years.”

However, he noted that much has been achieved through parliament in the last 15 years “compared to its long past.”

Also at the ceremony held at Hotel Jen, the speaker highlighted that the parliament started working as an independent body around 2006, but that it became a “completely” new parliament after the 2008 amendment to the Constitution.

Further noting that the Maldives’ first multi-party election was also held in 2008, which Nasheed won against former Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, he said that the parliament “represented the idea of politics in the Maldives.”

While his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) won super majority parliament in this year’s election, Nasheed said that they went into the elections with a plan on how they will work in parliament.

He said that they made pledges to the people, and are now working “to see how those pledges can be operationalized into policies, legislations,” as well as on how to assist the executive in delivering those pledges.

The former president also highlighted that the parliament, where the main party holds majority “is here to deliver those pledged by the president as well.”