Parliament goes into recess with 419 hours of work under the belt

The parliament in its last sitting of 2020, passed a number of bills and amendments before going into recess yesterday. The Parliament spent a total of 419 hours at work and even extended the third session. 

Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Eva Abdulla gave a brief overview of the parliament work conducted during the third session. According to the Deputy Speaker, the Parliament spent 89 hours in progress while 330 hours were spent on Committee meetings. 

A total of 15 bills were passed by the parliament while eight issues presented by the Speaker’s desk was also evaluated and finalized. Eight issues submitted by the government was also evaluated and finalized while 14 other issues were looked into by the Committees. 17 questions were also posed to Ministers during the third session.

Some of the most important bills passed by the Parliament in the third session include the Police Service Bill, Education Bill, Amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Transitional Justice Bill.

The amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act will encourage the detainment of children under house arrest. 

56 MPs voted in today's final sitting of the parliament in 2020 to pass the amendments.

The amendments were proposed to the Juvenile Justice Act of the Maldives so that children under the age of 18, who have committed an act of murder cannot be given capital punishment. 

The amendment read that if found guilty of murder for an act committed below the age of 18, the individual cannot be given capital punishment. 

The Parliament also moved to reduce rent for land issued for tourism purposes in the South and North of the Maldives. 

A total of 57 MPs present voted for the bill. 

Concluding the session around the evening of yesterday, Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla also congratulated all the employees of the parliament who had worked tirelessly. 

The Parliament sittings in the Maldives are distributed into three sessions in total. The first session starts on February and lasts until April. The second session lasts from June to August while the third and final session lasts from October to November.