VP: Parliament’s reputation tarnished with refusal to approve Cabinet

The Parliament has ruined its own reputation with its refusal to approve the Cabinet for the first time in history, says Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef.

The parliamentary approval for President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s Cabinet has remained stymied at the committee stage for weeks. The Parliament had gone into recess last week without taking the crucial vote – marking the first time for the Parliament to go into recess without approving a new Cabinet.

In a PPM-PNC campaign event for the upcoming Male’ City Council elections on Tuesday night, Hussain, who himself served as a parliamentarian up until recently, alleged that approval for the Cabinet was being deliberately withheld to disrupt the constitutional system.

“During no past administration has the Parliament deliberately withheld approval for a new Cabinet. They have ruined their reputation before the eyes of the Maldivian people,” he said.

Hussain said that if people were allowed to work against the administration’s development plan, then then the steps being taken by the administration to develop the country would “backslide”.

Speaking about former attorney general Azima Shakoor, who is contesting for Male’ Mayor on a PNC ticket, Hussain said he is confident the people of Male’ will vote for the candidate with President Muizzu’s backing.

President Muizzu made a formal request for the approval of his Cabinet on November 20, two days after the new administration took office.

The Parliament had been scheduled to vote on the Cabinet on December 18, but the original committee report was sent back to the committee, after Speaker Mohamed Aslam decided the report was incomplete, and because the committee hadn’t approved the mandate for government ministries.

The committee held a meeting on Saturday, during which they decided to approve the Cabinet for the second time. However, it still requires a floor vote.

The delay in approval for the new Cabinet had sparked criticism against the MDP – which holds a majority in the Parliament. Several MDP parliamentarians have been vocal in their disapproval of some of the new ministers.