President Muizzu: People will decide whether to allow or not allow to obstruct the govt.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, on Wednesday night, remarked that it is in the hands of the people to decide whether the parliament will allow or not allow for the government’s projects to proceed.

He made the remark while speaking to the residents of N. Manadhoo during his stop at the island as part of his ongoing tour of the atolls.

Speaking at the meeting, President Muizzu said his administration was undertaking efforts to formulate and pass legislatures required to resolve prevalent issues in the Maldives such as housing.

“At the moment we undertake efforts in the right direction to improve the economy and pave way for the aforesaid opportunities, the citizens are met with the opportunity to decide whether they will allow or disallow the parliament to obstruct this work,” he said.

He expressed confidence in the people that they would pave the way for the parliament to obstruct the government and elect candidates who would produce benefits for the whole nation.

President Muizzu, underscoring housing as the most prevalent issue in Manadhoo – affirmed the government will resolve the housing issue not only on the island, but across the whole Maldives, if they can proceed without obstructions.

“Then all things that would need to be done to achieve this can be done. At the conclusion of this five year term, there will not a be single person across whose housing needs have not been addressed,” he said.

President Muizzu also pledged to undertake efforts to resolve issues apart from housing if the government has opportunities within the parliament.

Prior to this, President Muizzu has established that the ruling PPM-PNC coalition’s goal for the parliamentary election is to secure a supermajority.

Main opposition MDP holds the majority in the ongoing 19th parliamentary assembly.  

Notably, the MDP-dominated 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, excluding MPs who have resigned to assume posts in President Muizzu's administration. 

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. The judgment in the case is scheduled for Thursday morning. 

In addition to this, the MDP-dominated parliament has passed a bill to postpone the parliamentary election slated for March 17th, which falls within Ramadan, for a second time after President Muizzu rejected the bill. 

According to the constitution, if the Parliament passes a bill that is rejected by the president for a second time without any amendments, and with a clear majority of the legislative body, the president is compelled to ratify the legislature.