The Speaker of the Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed has decided not to go for an approval vote for the new Tourism Minister, Dr. Abdulla Mausoom, after raising concerns on his oath.

Some MPs have said that the Dr. Mausoom needs to re-take his oath before the government can request an approval vote from the government.

The vote on the approval for the Tourism Minister was on the agenda for today’s sitting.

However, a question was raised regarding the Tourism Minister’s oath of office, by the MP for Vilufushi constituency, Hassan Afeef when the review report was presented on the parliament floor by the Chair of the Parliament Committee on Government Responsibility, the MP for West-Maafannu constituency, Mohamed Falaah.

MP Afeef said that no cabinet Minister should be involved in a trade business and when the Dr. Mausoom was appointed as the Tourism Minister, he was the Managing Director of a company and has not resigned from that position.

And since the position of Managing Director is that of the person who runs a company, it is cannot be accepted that Dr. Mausoom is not involved in a business.

MP Afeef said that due to this reason, the oath of office by the new Tourism Minister cannot be accepted and case must be investigated and verified before going for a vote.

Following MP Afeef’s remark, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for North-Galolhu constituency, Eva Abdulla said that the committee that reviewed the case must have that information verified. She supported MP Afeef saying that the conditions must be met before going to a vote.

Explaining the procedure of the Committee, MP Falaah said that the initial letter from the Economic Minister on 15 August did say that Dr. Mausoom was the Managing Director but the letter received from the Ministry on 18 August said that Dr. Mausoom had resigned from the position and was not in charge of any company.

But MP Falaah said that Dr. Mausoom was the Managing Director of a company when he took the oath as the Tourism Minister.

And so, the Speaker of the Parliament he is tied between the Constitution and the Counsel General and do not have the authority to make a decision outside the Constitution and discussed the matter with the Counsel General and decided that the Dr. Mausoom has to re-take a valid oath.

The Speaker also decided to resend the case to the Committee for review.