Members of the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have been appointed to many parliamentary committees tasked with holding the government accountable.
The proportion of members representing political parties in the standing committees has been changed after many members changed their political affiliations. The Parliament approved the members to be appointed to the various committees during the sitting held on October 4.
MDP decided to appoint members to the government oversight committees after its defeat in the presidential election. MDP still holds the majority in Parliament and has appointed its members to chair the committees as the largest opposition party.
As such, Parliamentary Group (PG) Leader of MDP Mohamed Aslam has been appointed as the Chair of the National Security Committee, Parliamentarian Mohamed Falah is appointed as the Chair of the Government Oversight Committee, and Parliamentarian is appointed as the Chair of the Committee on Independent Institutions. In addition, Parliamentarian Ibrahim Shareef is the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Parliamentarian Ahmed Saleem is the Chair of the Committee on Environment and Climate Change, and Parliamentarian Mohamed Raai is the Chair of the Committee on Member’s Privileges and Ethics.
Moreover, Parliamentarian Ali Niyaz is the Chair of the Committee on Decentralisation, Parliamentarian Mohamed Shifau is the Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs, and Parliamentarian Ibrahim Naseer is the Chair of the Petitions Committee. MDP members have also been appointed to Chair the Committee on Economic Affairs, Committee on State Owned Enterprises, Committee on National Development and Heritage, Public Accounts Committee, and the Committee on Human Rights and Gender.