Parliament Speaker: Standing orders amended to ensure there are no days wasted without work

Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla, underscoring there are circumstances where sittings cannot be held over lack of work, has cited the previous standing orders of the parliament as the main reason behind this.

Speaking at PSM’s “Komaakoalhi” program on Sunday night, the Speaker detailed that the previous standing orders stipulated certain timeframes for undertaking parliamentary works.

“For example, if a bill is submitted today, it is to be scheduled for tomorrow. The first reading of it, is what needs to be scheduled for tomorrow. Previous (standing orders) dictated that three days need to be provided between this (the first reading) and the debate,” he said.

On the contrary, Speaker Abdul Raheem said the new standing orders will allow the parliament to schedule the debate on the bill, the next day following the first reading.

The result, he said, would be the parliament always having some work to undertake. 

“This is as a bill forwarded to the committee following debate at the floor will not return to the floor the next day. There are stakeholders who need to be met regarding the specifics of the bill. Further information would need to be obtained. There are many days between the return of the bill following the completion of this work. The amendments to the standing orders are aimed at ensuring the parliamentary floor works proceed in spite of this,” he said.

Speaking further, the Speaker expressed contentment over how the works of the parliament are currently proceeding, adding the public has also expressed contentment regarding the undertakings of the current parliamentary assembly. 

The previous parliamentary assembly also saw days without a sitting on the agenda, with no work to carry forward. The issue had been a strong point of criticism among the public.