Parliament resumes with speedy five-minute sitting

Parliament resumed regular business Monday morning with only pro-government lawmakers in attendance for a sitting that lasted less than five minutes.

Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed adjourned proceedings after announcing that President Abdulla Yameen’s nominees for a National Integrity Commission member and the new ambassador to Japan have been sent to committee for evaluation.

Opposition MPs boycotted Monday’s sitting. They also boycotted the official parliament opening and presidential address last week.

The first legislative session of the year was due to begin during the first week of February but was delayed due to unspecified security reasons.

On February 1, the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of 12 controversially disqualified MPs handed the opposition coalition a clear majority. However, following the arrest of two justices with the declaration of a state of emergency, the three remaining justices issued an injunction halting the reinstatement.

Photo: MP Ahmed Nihan