People's Majlis to convene online sittings, on Monday

The People’s Majlis will hold its first online sitting on Monday.

While the first session of the parliament to be held online is to be held tomorrow, the decision to shift online was made “to allow the functions of the legislature to continue unimpeded during the Covid-19 crisis.”

The session will be held using the Microsoft Teams software, and a rehearsal was held on Saturday where the lawmakers learned the software, as well to iron out any glitches or confusion. Parliament's general purpose committee passed the policy to continue sittings via a web conference which will include the participation of 87 parliamentarians as well as the Secretary-General, Counsel General, Sergeant at Arms, and other administrative staff.

The Majlis sessions will be broadcast live on local TV channels, as per usual.

The agenda for Monday’s sitting has been publicized as well. While the online sessions are to commence at 11am, lawmakers will discuss on a motion submitted by the ruling party’s parliamentary group leader MP Ali Azim, to ensure the implementation of the government's Covid-19 relief measures.

While parliamentarians are to be notified if sessions are halted due to a lack of quorum and five minutes before a vote is cast, the voting process will be conducted by questioning individual parliamentarians.

Maldives declared a state of public health emergency on March 12, and there has been a total of 17 confirmed Covid-19 cases from the country.