The Parliament of the Maldives has failed to form new committees after two days of negotiations.
The Parliament made changes to the register of members and decided to change the composition of the committees after 12 parliamentarians left the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). As such, the MDP Parliamentary Group (PG) submitted its proposals for the changes to the committees after 12 of its lawmakers became independent members. However, the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed decided to make the changes after holding discussions with political parties and independent members.
The composition of the committees has not been changed despite two days of negotiations. A member of the MDP PG who joined the meetings said the issue should not be open to negotiations, as the regulations state that the composition of the committees should be based on the number of political parties and the proposals submitted by the parties. An MDP member accused the speaker of being unwilling to adhere to the current proposal as some of the MDP members are also chairing the committees.
The Elections Commission of the Maldives (ECM) has informed the Secretariat of the Parliament that the 12 parliamentarians have resigned from MDP. The Parliament now consists of 55 members of MDP, five members of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), three members of the People’s National Congress (PNC), three members of the Maldives National Party (MNP), two members of Jumhooree Party (JP), two members of the Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), and 17 independent members.