Deadline of two weeks passes for appointing members to Standing Committees

The Select Committee assigned with appointing members to Standing Committees has concluded its meeting today with no agreement, while the deadline for completing this task passed three days ago.

Article 111 of the Parliament Standing Orders states that members must be appointed to Standing Committees within two weeks of the inauguration of the parliament.

The delay is caused by two committees having more members than required, and the issue can be solved by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) giving up two seats.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhooree Party (JP), and Adhaalath Party have agreed to give up their seats in the committees with excess members.

The Select Committee has asked PPM and MDA to find a way to agree on the matter, and scheduled another meeting for tomorrow.

Earlier, the committee decided to give 59 seats in 12 Standing Committees to the government coalition (PPM and MDA), 39 seats to MDP, 23 seats to JP, 2 seats to Adhaalath Party, and 1 seat to the only independent member in the parliament.

The parliament has 13 standing committees in total. Procedures for assigning parties to the Security Services Committee have not been determined.