Supreme Court to accept case regarding validity of MP's seat

The Supreme Court has accepted the case lodged regarding the validity of the seat of MP for Dhaandhoo Yaugoob Abdulla.

Former judge of the Civil Court Mohamed Haleem lodged the case with the Supreme Court. He requested the top court to rule that MP for Dhaandhoo Yaugoob Abdulla has lost his seat after he was appointed to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Maldives (ICAM).

Legal questions regarding the validity of Yaugoob’s parliament seat were raised after he was appointed to the ICAM, an institution formed under the Chartered Accountants Act, recently passed by the Parliament.

Legal experts posed questions whether MP Yaugoob can serve on the Institute while serving in the Parliament, which the Constitution does not permit. Yaugoob resigned after a day of being appointed due to the legal questions surrounding the appointment.

Haleem said to Sun that the case was lodged under Article 8 and 73 of the Constitution. Article 8 stipulates the supremacy of the constitution while Article 73 stipulates the requirements of parliamentarians and instances where they can be removed from their elected posts as well as instances of misconduct.

The Article stipulates that a sitting parliamentarian cannot serve on an independent commission or at an independent post.

“A parliamentary seat cannot be lost and later recovered, as how marriage procedures go where a person marries, divorces and then recovers the marriage through Rujoo’ah.” Said Haleem to Sun.

Haleem’s case was lodged after similar statements by opposition political parties PPM and PNC. The parties also stated that the matter would be lodged with the courts.

Yaugoob speaking with Sun previously had said that he did not see it as a violation or an issue and that several legal experts have advised him similarly. 

He stated that after contradictions were brought forth, later on, he had decided that the wisest thing would be for him to resign from the ICAM.