Parliament in deadlock over delays in reconstituting committees

Important bills submitted to the parliament have stalled due to a failure in reconstituting the standing committees after a major change in the composition of the parliament, with the main ruling MDP on Tuesday expressing concern over the issue.

The committee had be to reconstituted after 12 out of MDP's 67 lawmaker, which had super-majority, defected and another was expelled from the party. Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim was expelled from the party last month. Twelve members, including deputy speaker Eva Abdulla, left the party the day after Azim was sacked.

Independent MP Abdul Muhsin from Milandhoo constituency has has joined MDP. Isdhoo MP Ali Hameed, who had previously represented Jumhooree Party, also quit the party and joined MDP. Currently, there are 56 lawmakers representing MDP in the parliament.

Speaking at a press conference held at the parliament on Tuesday, MDP parliamentary group leader Mohamed Aslam, MP from Hithadhoo North constituency, pointed out that most of the parliament's work is carried out in committees and that the work has been completely halted. He said the work of the committees has come to a standstill as the speaker has extended the process without reconstituting the committees. 

Aslam said speaker Mohamed Nasheed's conduct has become a major obstacle to the functioning of the parliament. He was referring to Nasheed's decision to put on hold the debate and vote on the no-confidence motion against the attorney general during Tuesday’s sitting.

Nasheed's decision to stay the no-confidence motion against Riffath came in the wake of a complaint filed by the opposition PPM alleging that Riffath had infringed on the privileges of the parliament. When the matter came up for discussion, it was rejected in the morning session of the parliament with a vote of 48 members. 

However, the speaker announced that a similar but a different motion has been referred to the parliamentary committee on privileges. 

Aslam said the procedures for referring cases to committees was clear in the parliament's rules of procedure. 

Aslam said he had been informed by the parliament secretariat that the delay in reconstituting the committees was due to "non-consensus of political parties". However, in a meeting with parliamentary group leaders of political parties, they agreed to allocate committee seats to parties relative to their share in the parliament.

"All the political parties present at the meeting agreed to give the slot of committees to the extent that the party is represented in the parliament. MDP currently represents 64%, which amounts to 113 slots. We are in agreement for those 113 slots," he said.

Pointing out that even if the parties do not agree to it, the regulations make it clear that members should be appointed to committees, Aslam said it has to be on the agenda and passed by the parliament administration. Every day that it is not done is a day when parliament is in a deadlock, he said.

According to parliament's rules of procedure, the parliamentary group leader of a party has the right to transfer members from one standing committee to the other.

According to the current composition of the parliamentary standing committees, the 12 lawmakers who defected from MDP are in the most influential committees.

Meanwhile, MDP's parliamentary group has filed a no-confidence motion against Eva after she quit the party and started forming another party.

The 14-day notice given to Eva to file her reply expires on June 11 and if standing committees are not formed by then, there could be a delay in scheduling the motion, parliament secretariat told Atoll Times on Monday.

The no-confidence motion filed by the opposition coalition against foreign minister Abdulla Shahid has also been delayed due to the delays in reconstituting the committees.

With the second term of parliament coming to an end by the end of this month, MDP has raised questions about whether the motion to remove Nasheed from the post of speaker can also be put to vote before the end of the term.

Aslam on Tuesday alleged that Nasheed was stalling without taking up issues that he did not want to pursue, such as the debate and vote on the no-confidence motion against Eva.