Parliament sitting scheduled for 4:00 pm, but no update on agenda

The Parliament’s secretariat announced that the extraordinary sitting scheduled for Tuesday will begin at 04:00 pm, as protests remain ongoing outside the Parliament Building with the legislative assembly set to take a vote on a contentious media bill that seeks to replace the existing self-regulatory system with a government-controlled commission.

In a message sent at around 01:00 pm, the Parliament’s secretariat informed lawmakers that Tuesday’s extraordinary sitting will begin at 04:00 pm.

“The agenda will be shared later,” reads the statement.

While the Parliament has yet to share the agenda for the sitting, multiple parliamentarians from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) told Sun that they plan on using their supermajority in the Parliament to push through a controversial media bill.

The bill was passed by the Independent Institutions Committee on Monday evening amid chaos as journalists erupted in protest and one PNC parliamentarian snatched a mic from an opposition lawmaker and threw it to the ground to prevent him from speaking.

A senior figure within the PNC’s parliamentary group told Sun on Monday evening that the ruling party plans to pass the bill as soon as possible. He said the party plans to present the bill and have it passed during Tuesday’s sitting.

“The committee passed the bill after addressing all major concerns. We plan to pass the bill tomorrow,” he said.

Noosveringe muzaahara hoonuve, noosverinnaai fuluhun ge kurimathilumakah. Noosverin annanee media control bill aa dhekolhah ihuthijaaju kuramun.

Video: Mohamed Hamdhoon

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The Petition Committee convened for a meeting at 11:00 am Tuesday and voted to reject a petition signed by 151 journalists from 41 media outlets demanding the withdrawal of the controversial legislature.

A crowd of protestors, most of them journalists, have been gathered outside the Parliament Building since the morning in protest of the expected passage of the bill.

There have been several incidents of clashes between the police and protestors during the ongoing demonstration.