Parliament extends session by a week to complete pending bills

Parliament on Wednesday extended its current session by one week to complete work on pending matters, including a bill that would allow the government to reclaim land and property under the jurisdiction of local councils.

Under Parliament's rules, sittings are conducted across three sessions each year. The second session was due to end this Saturday, with Wednesday initially scheduled to be the final sitting before the recess.

Opening Wednesday's sitting, Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla proposed extending the session until Thursday next week, citing "important work that needs to be completed".

The proposal was approved with 58 votes in favour. No members voted against it, while MPs from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) did not participate in the vote.

At the end of the sitting, Abdul Raheem also announced that Parliament would meet on Thursday. Parliamentary sittings are normally held from Monday to Wednesday.

Although the Speaker did not identify the specific matters behind the extension, several bills are currently progressing through Parliament.

Among them is an amendment to the Decentralisation Act that would give the government powers to reclaim land and property under the jurisdiction of local councils for state development projects.

The bill was introduced last week, with debate beginning and concluding on Monday before Parliament voted to accept it and refer it to the Decentralisation Committee.

The committee on Tuesday decided to complete its review within five days, setting a deadline of Sunday to finalise its report. The timetable provides two days for members of the public to submit views on the proposed legislation.

The pace at which the bill is being considered has drawn criticism from the opposition and others who argue that the proposed changes would reduce the authority of elected councils.

Another bill before Parliament seeks to amend the Foreign Exchange Act. The legislation, introduced on Wednesday, would remove the option allowing resorts to meet their foreign currency conversion requirement by exchanging $500 per tourist arrival.

Under the proposed changes, resorts would instead be required to convert 20 per cent of their monthly foreign currency revenue through banks in the Maldives. The government intends for the amendments to take effect from September 1.

Parliament accepted the foreign exchange bill on Wednesday and referred it to committee, with a committee meeting scheduled for later in the day.

Parliament is also considering amendments to the Maldives Payment System Act that would give the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) authority to establish a National Payment Switch.

The bill, introduced on Tuesday, would allow transactions between banks and payment service providers to be routed through a central payment switch. Parliament accepted the legislation and referred it to the Public Accounts Committee.

Work on the payment system amendment is also expected to be completed before Parliament enters recess.

Following the conclusion of the extended second session, Parliament is expected to take a recess of about one and a half months before sittings resume in October for the third session of the year.