A proposal has been submitted to the People’s Majlis seeking to remove one of the mandatory conditions stipulated in the parliament's Standing Orders for submitting petitions.

The amendment proposing the deletion of Clause (h) of Article 257-1 of the Standing Orders was submitted by People’s National Congress (PNC) MP for Funadhoo constituency, Mohamed Mamdhooh.

Article 257-1 (h) of the Majlis Standing Orders provides that a petition submitted to parliament must not seek action that repeats a request already being pursued in an active petition previously submitted to the Majlis.

Following the announcement of MP Mamdhooh’s proposed amendment on the Majlis floor, the matter was referred to a standing committee for review and deliberation.

The proposal to repeal this clause comes after a petition secured the required number of signatures to trigger a parliamentary floor debate. That petition called for the withdrawal of a proposed amendment to the Decentralization Act that would grant the Cabinet the authority to remove land and properties under the jurisdiction of city and island councils without compensation or council consultation.

Yesterday, the Petitions Committee approved bringing the petition to the Speaker’s attention so that it can be placed on the agenda within the next three sittings of the People’s Majlis.

Meanwhile, signatures are also currently being gathered for a separate petition calling on parliament to pass the decentralization amendment as originally proposed.