The 93 members elected to the 20th parliamentary assembly have taken their oath of office.
The 93 members elected to the 20th parliamentary assembly took their oath of office on Tuesday, following tightly contested elections on April 21, which saw the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) achieve a sweeping victory.
The members of the new assembly took their oath in a ceremony held at the Parliament at 09:00 am. Their oath was administered by Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan.
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The PNC hold a supermajority in the new parliamentary assembly with 75 out of 93 seats. This includes 67 seats it won in the elections and the seats of the eight independents who joined the party in the weeks after.
The inaugural sitting will be held at 10:15 am, during which the members will elect the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker in a secret ballot. The sitting will be chaired by Meedhoo MP Ahmed Siyam Mohamed.
The PNC’s parliamentary group has decided to nominate Fonadhoo MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla (Adhurey) as the Speaker, and Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim as the Deputy Speaker – as recommended by the party’s leader, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
The party also decided to make Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah its parliamentary group leader, which makes him the new parliamentary majority leader. Meanwhile, the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has elected South Hithadhoo MP Ibrahim Nazil as its parliamentary group leader, which makes him the new minority leader.
MDP, which held a huge majority in the last parliamentary assembly, suffered a heavy blow in last month’s elections, winning just 12 seats.
Only 11 out of the 87 members of the last assembly retained their seats.
They are: