State of Emergency extended to 30 days

Parliament has passed the President's resolution to extend the State of Emergency in the Maldives to 30 days.

The resolution was passed with the vote of 38 MPs. No opposition MP took part in the sitting.

At the sitting this evening, the vote on the National Security Council's decision on the state of emergency was asked individually to redact the Articles, 100, 101, 113 and 228 of the Constitution.

Article 100: Impeachment of the President or Vice President

Article 101: No confidence vote against cabinet ministers

Article 113: Final ruling goes to the Supreme Court

Article 228: Dismissing the Prosecutor General

Before the vote, the Speaker of the Parliament, Abdulla Maseeh said that state of emergency is not among things mentioned in the public orders of Articled 38 and so the vote is being taken under normal regulations.

Article 258 of the Constitution states that if there a question of validity on a decree for the state of emergency, a final decision on it would be made by the Supreme Court.

The constitution states that even during a state of emergency, the right to disobey an illegal order cannot be suspended.