The Petition Committee of the People's Majlis has sent the "Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulatory Bill" to the Independent Institutions Committee to check if the concerns raised by journalists in their petition to the People's Majlis have been considered.

In today's meeting of the Petition Committee to discuss the petition, the committee's deputy chair, Abdul Lateef Mohamed, MP for Dhidhdhoo constituency, said that the work of reviewing the "Media Bill" mentioned in the journalists' petition is currently ongoing in the committee.

Therefore, he proposed to send the petition to the Independent Institutions Committee, asking them to consider the concerns raised by journalists and to inform the Petition Committee of their decision.

Abdul Lateef's proposal was seconded by Mohamed Abdul Rahman, MP for Hinnavaru constituency.

The committee then passed the motion to send the journalists' petition to the Independent Institutions Committee.

Afterwards, the chair of the Petition Committee, Mohamed Ali, MP for Gaadhoo constituency, said that the petition calls for the rejection of the Media Bill. However, he noted that this is not within the committee's power. Nevertheless, he said the committee could examine to what extent the Independent Institutions Committee has considered the concerns in the petition during their review of the bill, and could submit recommendations to the Majlis.

The petition submitted by journalists expressing concerns about the "Maldives Media and Broadcasting Regulatory Bill" proposed by the government has been signed by 151 journalists calling for the bill to be rejected by the Majlis.

This petition has been sent to both the People's Majlis and the President.