Parliament OKs Saeed, but rejects Haidar, Shaheem and Usham

The Parliament on Monday voted to deny approval to Housing Minister Dr. Ali Haidar Ahmed, Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed and Attorney General Ahmed Usham, while Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed narrowly survived the same fate himself.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu made a formal request for the approval of his cabinet on November 20, two days after the new administration took office.

The Parliament had been scheduled to vote on the cabinet on December 18, but the original report by the Government Oversight Committee was rejected. The Parliament held an extraordinary sitting on Sunday to take the vote on the committee’s new report, which was passed on December 30.

But just ahead of the vote, the main opposition MDP - which holds a majority in the Parliament – issued a three-line red whip to deny approval to the four cabinet members.

The move sparked clashes between pro-government and opposition lawmakers, leaving the Parliament unable to hold the vote.

The long-delayed vote finally took place on Monday afternoon.

 As expected, the Parliament rejected Haidar, Shaheem and Usham – who the three-line whip applied to.

Haidar was rejected with a vote of 46-24, while Usham was rejected with a vote of 44-24, and Shaheem with a vote of 31-30, with eight abstinences.

But in a surprising development, Saeed, against whom the whip also applied, narrowly passed rejection with a vote of 37-32.

The remaining 18 members of the cabinet, including Defense Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon and Home Minister Ali Ihusan – who the MDP threatened to also reject if the disruptions continued – received approval.