Judgment in parliament standing orders’ case scheduled for tomorrow

Supreme Court has scheduled the judgment in the case filed by the Attorney General’s Office (AG Office) over the controversial amendment to the parliament’s standing orders.

As per the court, the hearing to deliver the judgment is slated for 9:00am on Thursday.

The court held the first and only hearing in the case last Wednesday.

The case proceeded without a respondent as the parliament is also represented by AG Office, the appellant; an arrangement the parliament has expressed no objection to.

Seven lawmakers resigned from the Parliament in November, to assume top positions in President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration. But the Elections Commission decided against holding by-elections, so close to the parliamentary elections.

Taking advantage of the situation, the main opposition MDP – which holds a majority in the Parliament – amended the Parliament’s standing orders so that vacated seats aren’t counted when determining the total number of MPs.

According to the amendment to the standing orders by MDP, the total number of MPs would now be 80, instead of 87.

MDP has warned they plan on filing a motion to impeach President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu before the current term ends in May, claiming they have collected enough signatures to file an impeachment.

With 56 MPs between MDP and Democrats which recently announced an alliance to work together in the parliament to hold the government accountable, they have the power to impeach the president and the vice president, if they wish.

This prompted AG Office to file the Supreme Court – seeking to nullify the amendments.