The Parliamentary Group (PG) of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has stated that it has given significant concessions to the opposition in order to re-form the parliamentary committees.
The committee works were suspended following the resignation of 12 parliamentarians from MDP. Since then, the Parliament has been unable to move forward with the no-confidence motions against the speaker and deputy speaker as the political parties have yet to reach an agreement on the new composition of the committees.
At a press conference, Spokesperson of the MDP PG Abdulla Shafeeq claimed that the Secretariat of the Parliament is refusing to re-form the committees despite the main ruling party’s willingness to make concessions. He said MDP has agreed to ensure representation of all parties on the General Purpose Committee, even though constitutional requirements mandate representation only on the National Security Services Commission. He added that the concession was made in order to resume the work at the committees.
Also at the press conference, Chairperson of the Human Rights and Gender Committee Jeehan Mahmood said that standing committees are required to continue their work, while Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee Mohamed Nashiz described the suspension of the committees as undemocratic.
Meanwhile, opposition members at a separate press conference claimed that the Parliament will only be able to resume its work once the MDP PG withdraw one of the no-confidence motions against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla.