Parliament heats up after tax hike vote held off over no quorum
As per the constitution, at least 57 members are required to be present on the floor of the parliament to vote on such bills.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
The issue of parliament concluding Monday's session without voting on the tax hike bill over the lack of quorum has heated up.
The report of the entire parliamentary committee to increase GST and T-GST from next year as proposed by the government is on the agenda for Monday’s session. MDP members supporting the government were not satisfied when they did not get to vote as per the rules and because the quorum was not met. Following this, members staged a protest on the floor of the parliament.
After the committee's report was tabled in the parliament, deputy speaker Eva Abdulla who was presiding over the sitting said that the tax hike bill will be debated only after preliminary discussions on other bills are completed.
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Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef presided over the preliminary debates
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Since none of the members wanted to speak on the report, Afeef, without giving any more time, went ahead with the voting process
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Not voted as per rules; the bell is rung to allow members outside the parliament floor to participate in the voting
"None of the honourable members have asked [to speak]. We don't even have a quorum to vote on the bill," Afeef said.
As per the constitution, at least 44 members are required to be present on the floor of the parliament to vote on such bills:
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Article 87(b) of the constitution provides that if parliament passes anything that is mandatory for citizens to comply with it, then two-thirds of the total number of members of the parliament shall be present on the floor
Article 53 of the parliament's rules of procedure specifies the bell timings of the process:
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5 minutes before voting in any case
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At the time of voting, if a certain number of members are not present at the meeting as per the constitution and rules of the parliament.
The pro-government MPs were not satisfied as the parliament session was concluded without a vote. As soon as the session ended, the members staged a protest.
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Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef who belongs to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's faction sat on the speaker's chair
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Atoll Times has received a video in which Shareef can be seen sitting at the Speaker’s table, turning on the mic and saying something
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While some of the remaining members gathered at the chair table, others sat on the ground in front of it
At the end of the session, MNP MP from Villimale constituency, Ahmed Usham, tweeted that the vote was not held because "the chair had violated the rules".
"The chair [Speaker] should also abide by the rules of the House," said Usham, a former deputy attorney general.
As the tax hike was scheduled for Monday, the opposition party gathered outside the parliament house and raised slogans against hiking taxes.
The government has proposed a tax hike from January 2023 onwards:
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GST to be hiked from 6% to 8%
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T-GST to be hiked from 12% to 16%
