Parliament Speaker would not issue illegal orders: Sergeant-at-Arms

The first ever Sergeant-at-Arms appointed to the parliament, Mohamed Haleem has said that Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid would not, under any circumstance, issue an illegal order.

The parliament approved Haleem as Sergeant-at-Arms yesterday with 56 votes in favour, out of a total of 57 MPs present.

The law enforcement officer for the parliament, Sergeant-at-Arms is required to keep order during sessions under the directions of the Parliament Speaker. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall employ security officers to implement these orders.

Mohamed Haleem left the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on 30 September 2013 at the rank of First Lieutenant and has 23 years of military service.

Haleem said he is prepared to implement orders issued by Shahid.

“The Parliament Speaker would never, under any circumstance, issue orders to carry out illegal activities. He would never do that. He was elected to that post by majority vote. The orders issued by him upon us, would be lawful. He wouldn’t issue any other orders,” said Haleem.

He noted that the parliament hall is a place of dignity, and said that activities that undermine the dignity of the hall will not be tolerated.

“The main responsibility is to find solutions to this problem from within the hall. No MP should be allowed to undermine the dignity of the parliament. Doesn’t matter who the person is, including me,” said Haleem, who has the authority, with the consent of the Parliament Speaker, to remove MPs who disrupt order from the parliament hall.

Haleem said that he will make efforts to strengthen security at the parliament, and that this will be done with the advice of the Parliament Speaker.

He opined that a Sergeant-at-Arms should also be appointed to the Supreme Court as well.