Parliament postpones resumption of sittings by a week; next sitting on Monday

The Parliament Secretariat, on Sunday, said parliamentary sittings will resume next week contrary to the initial schedule, that had a sitting set for Monday.

The second session of Parliament for the current year commenced last Monday. However, no further sittings were scheduled for the week following the inaugural sitting, during which Speaker Abdul Raheed, while concluding proceedings, stated that the next one would be held on the following Monday, marking a one-week break between the sittings.

However, Parliament Secretariate, on Sunday, said the break has been extended by one week, with the next sitting scheduled for Monday of next week.

According to the Parliament’s Standing Orders, the current session is set to conclude on August 15^th.

The regulations generally require the first session of each year to run from February 1 to May 15. This year, however, the first session was extended until the end of May to accommodate proceedings related to the removal of Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim from his post as Deputy Speaker. Despite the extension, Nazim resigned from the position approximately 30 minutes before the floor vote was set to commence.  

Notably, parliamentary sittings were not held regularly during the first session of the year, while committee meetings were also irregular.

Despite the considerable salaries and extensive benefits provided by the state to members of parliament, along with the substantial annual budget allocated for parliamentary administration, public criticism has continued to grow over the perceived lack of productivity relative to the level of compensation and resources afforded to lawmakers.