Council meeting on housing canceled due to insufficient quorum as PNC councilors fail to attend again

Wednesday’s Malé City Council meeting, where the ruling PNC has a supermajority, was unable to proceed due to the failure to meet the required quorum.

The cancellation of Wednesday’s meeting follows several earlier meetings that were also called off due to insufficient quorum caused by the absence of PNC councilors. Notably, some of those meetings had motions on high-value land plots in Malé leased to various parties during President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s tenure as mayor and the alleged corruption in awarding the Malé Fish Market project, on the agenda.

Main opposition MDP has alleged that PNC is deliberately withholding the quorum in order to obstruct the investigation into these cases.

The Male’ City Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday had the issue of current administration’s housing schemes on agenda: a motion jointly put forth by MDP’s North Galolhu Councilor Mohamed Saif Fathih and West Galolhu Councilor Mariyam Nazima Mohamed Faiz.

The motion states that the government did not consult the Council at all when establishing the eligibility criteria for its housing scheme. It raises concerns about the eligibility criteria and proposes discussing on possibly making a recommendation to the government to review the criteria.

Only eight out of the 19 councilors attended Wednesday’s meeting presided by Male’ Mayor Adam Azim.

Notably, the local council election is scheduled for April 4, after the holy month of Ramadan. Both the ruling PNC and opposition MDP are actively campaigning for the election. While the government argues that electing government-backed candidates will support development, the MDP stresses the need for opposition representatives to ensure government accountability.