Nasheed: Do not be mistaken, this is the legislative body

Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has said in today’s Parliamentary session that bills to be proposed by MDP and any other party can also be drafted using Parliament resources and not to mistake the Parliament's functions.

Parliaments Committees have already begun drafting bills by the governing MDP’s Agenda 19, which has drawn the criticism of some MPs due to these bills being drafted using Parliament resources.

The Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed began today’s session by stating that “this is the Parliament of the Maldives which creates laws.”

“I am stating so because some people might be unsure of this. The article 70 of the Constitution states that all the legislative work of the country should be carried out by the Parliament. This means that all the work regarding the creation of the law, amending it, and revoking it, should be carried out by the Parliament, according to the Article (70) (B) of the Constitution.” Said the Speaker.

Drafting MDP bills in the Parliament is unrelated to transparency, said the Speaker who also stated that the resources were not bei9ng used to “provide food for the homes of MPs’’.

“It would be related to transparency if the resources are used to attain food and clothing (for MPs). We are utilizing the resources to create the law” said the Speaker, who also stated that there were no obstructions to drafting the bills of parties in the Parliament and that the administration of the Parliament was forming regulations regarding the matter.

MDP will propose 20 bills to the Parliament during this Parliamentary session. Work to draft these bills is currently being carried out by the Parliament’s permanent Committees.