Finalized report on Standing Committees compositions to reach floor on Tuesday

Members will be assigned to the Parliament Standing Committees and the final report will be forwarded to the parliament floor on Tuesday, Chair of the the five-member select committee to determine composition of standing committees, Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed has said.

The Select Committee assigned with appointing members to Standing Committees concluded its meeting on Friday with no agreement, while the deadline for completing this task passed on Wednesday.

MP Riyaz Rasheed told Sun Online today that the issues will be solved tomorrow. The delay is caused by two committees having more members than required.

“The issues on determining the standing committees will be solved during the meeting tomorrow. We’ll be able to forward the committee report to the parliament floor on Tuesday,” said MP Riyaz Rasheed, who is also the deputy parliamentary group leader of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM).

Article 111 (a) of the Parliament Standing Orders states that members must be appointed to Standing Committees within two weeks of the inauguration of the parliament.

The issue can be solved by PPM and Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) giving up two seats. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Jumhooree Party (JP), and Adhaalath Party have agreed to give up their seats in the committees with excess members. The Select Committee has asked PPM and MDA to find a way to agree on the matter.

Earlier, the committee decided to give 59 seats in 12 standing committees to the government coalition (PPM and MDA), 39 seats to MDP, 23 seats to JP, 2 seats to Adhaalath Party, and 1 seat to the only independent member in the parliament.

The parliament has 13 standing committees in total. Procedures for assigning parties to the Security Services Committee have not been determined.