Parliament cancels recess, extends session to May end

The Parliament, on Wednesday, voted in favor of cancelling the scheduled recess between the first and second parliamentary sessions of the year, and extending the first session to the end of May.

Parliament’s Standing Orders dictates that the first parliamentary session of the year must be held from the first of February to the end of April, allowing parliamentarians to enjoy a one-month recess before the second session begins in June.

However, the Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, during the virtual parliamentary sitting this morning, proposed cancelling recess and extending the current session.

Nasheed said that it was important that parliamentary sittings continue uninterrupted amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

“This means parliamentarians will not enjoy a recess at the end of the current session,” said Nasheed.

He asked that all parliamentarians be in a state of readiness to attend parliamentary sittings when called on.

Both parliamentary sittings and parliamentary committee meetings are now held virtually.