Opposition response to presidential address set for Wednesday

The Parliament's secretariat has announced that the opposition's response to the presidential address is set to be delivered tomorrow.

Speaker of Parliament and Former President Mohamed Nasheed has previously revealed that the opposition will be given the opportunity to respond to the presidential address, during the parliament’s sitting scheduled for Monday. However, the opposition's response has since been delayed to Wednesday. While the reason for the postponement has not been publicly disclosed, RaajjeMV understands that the opposition members were informed of the delay.

MP for Eydhafushi constituency, Ahmed Saleem - the leader of the opposition Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM)’s Parliamentary Group- will be delivering the opposition’s response to the presidential address, as the minority leader of the parliament.

According to the parliament's procedures, the opposition’s response must include the political priorities of parliament members who do not represent the ruling party. As such, opposition members gathered for a meeting to discuss creating a response for this year’s presidential address this week, as per regulations.

The People’s Majlis comprises of 65 members representing the main ruling MDP, six members representing opposition PPM, five members representing Jumhooree Party (JP), two members from Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), three members of opposition coalition party People’s National Congress (PNC) and six independent members.