Parliament adjourned amid points of order

Parliament sitting today was brought to halt again over the failure to reach a consensus on the compositions of the standing committees.

The sitting was plunged into disorder when Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Dr Mohamed Muizzu appeared today to answer before the parliament. Some 14 MPs had requested to question the minister when opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs started calling for points of order, insisting that the standing committees’ issue must be solved before continuing the sitting.

Despite requests from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to continue the sitting as planned, Speaker Maseeh adjourned today's proceedings to allow for dialogue among political parties represented in parliament.

On 16 June, a five-member select committe decided the compositions of the 13 standing committees in parliament to hold 11 members in each committee and the ruling coalition to have majority of seven major committees. Parliament floor has yet to finalize the decision.

Last sitting of the parliament, held last Tuesday, was also prematurely adjourned with requests from Parliamentary Group (PG) leaders, including PPM PG Leader MP Ahmed Nihan, to negotiate the standing committees' issue.

However, Minority Leader, MDP MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Jumhoory Party Parliamentary Group Leader Gasim Ibrahim said in parliament today that the Speaker did not discuss the issue after the sitting on Tuesday.