Wadde floors Riyaz in verbal attack, Committee meeting abandoned

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) parliamentarian MP Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim (Wadde) floored fellow party member and leader of People’s Majlis Government Oversight Committee MP Riyaz Rasheed with in a verbal attack on Tuesday, resulting in the Committee meeting being abandoned.

The verbal attack between the two government MPs took place due to a difference of opinion regarding Committee work.

Wadde accused Riyaz of carrying out Committee work in violation of People’s Majlis rules and regulation.

He said that Riyaz was imposing his full influence over the Committee; proposing issues on his own and making decisions on his own.

Wadde verbally attacking Riyaz on June 21, 2016. Sun photo: Hussein Hassan

He criticized Riyaz saying that a leader of a Committee could not propose an issue on his own and neither could he make a decision without the vote of all Committee members present.

“These decisions are all void. This was proposed completely wrong, in violation of rules and regulation. This is the People’s Majlis. The Committee leader cannot propose issues as he pleases in the Majlis,” said Wadde, who represents Thulusdhoo constituency.

Wadde started his verbal attack saying that the waste management issue in Male’ was being studied by the Committee in violation of rules and regulations.

He said that Riyaz set it in the agenda without any Committee member bringing it up first.

Riyaz said that the issue was set in the agenda after one of the Committee members brought it forward, and that it was voted on before Committee started looking into it.

He also said that officials from relevant authorities had been brought in for questioning in the issue.

It was decided during Tuesday’s Committee meeting to summon officials from Housing Ministry and Environment Ministry in for questioning.

The decision was passed with the vote of four out of six members present during the meeting.

Wadde did not participate in the vote.

It was after the vote that Wadde voiced out his concern.

“This is the only Committee where with the leader enforcing full control. There isn’t a waste management problem here,” said Wadde after Riyaz announced the end of the meeting.