Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has criticised the bills submitted to the parliament by the government, stating the bills represent ideas from a distant past.
Announcing the Mental Health Bill has been sent back for revision, Speaker Nasheed said most of the new bills submitted by the government are just a short statement of a topic which had been pending over the years across different administrations. The speaker said the bills do not represent the manifesto set by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), but rather represents ideas from a distant past.
Speaker Nasheed also stated bills should be drafted inside the parliament, as the resources required to gather ideas and formulate laws are in the parliament. He said the responsibility of drafting bills lies on the parliament, adding the role does not need to be duplicated by another body of the state.
The speaker revealed over 56 bills had been forwarded by the administration at the end of the last term of the parliament.