Parliament approves rule change allowing multiple petitions on same issue

Parliament has approved an amendment to the Standing Orders of the People's Majlis allowing multiple petitions relating to the same issue to be submitted for consideration.

The amendment was proposed by Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC).

Under the previous rules, Article (g) governing petition eligibility stated that a petition could not request an action or measure that duplicated a matter already contained in another active petition before parliament.

The proposal sought to remove that restriction.

Earlier on Monday, the matter was referred to the General Purpose Committee for review. The committee subsequently met and considered the proposed amendment.

Committee members voted to repeal the provision and renumber the remaining clauses of the relevant article.

Of the committee's 11 members, nine attended the meeting.

According to the voting results:

A minimum of five votes was required for the proposal to pass.

No committee members spoke against the amendment during deliberations.

Following the committee's decision, the amendment to the Standing Orders was approved, removing the restriction on submitting multiple petitions concerning the same matter.

The change comes amid debate over a bill to amend the Decentralisation Act to allow the state to reclaim land and lagoons under local council jurisdiction for government projects.

A petition opposing the bill, signed by more than 2,000 people, was recently submitted to parliament. Under parliamentary rules, the petition qualified for consideration and debate.

A second petition supporting the bill was submitted on Sunday.

Under the previous Standing Orders, the second petition could not have been accepted because another petition on the same matter was already active before parliament.

The amendment passed on Monday removes that limitation and allows multiple petitions relating to the same issue to be submitted and considered.