President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has expressed concerns over Presidential Commissions Bill at Parliament with the Cabinet. The vote on the Bill to empower Presidential commissions have been passed over at Parliament during the recent sittings.

The Presidential Commissions being empowered by the Bill involve the Commission on Investigation of Murder and Enforced Disappearances as well as the Commission on Corruption and Asset Recovery.

Spokesperson to the President, Ibrahim Hoodh informed One Online that the Bill not passing through Parliament while a government majority presides, has concerned President Solih. Hoodh said that the President has said that he believes that the situation should not be as such.

The Spokesperson to the President said that the biggest concern for the President is that there is a delay in addressing the cases while major allegations are being made against many. Hoodh noted that while the people had entrusted the government with ensuring that the cases are addressed, criticisms concerning the delays have also been directed at the government.

He said that President Solih has asked the Cabinet to direct efforts towards ensuring that the Bill passes swiftly through Parliament, at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.

The Spokesperson to the President said that

Various Parliamentary sittings have been concluded, and a month has gone by without being able to conduct a vote on the Bill to empower Presidential Commissions. An attempt had been made to pass the Bill at Parliament, during the last sitting of the previous year 2018.

While President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had called on Parliament to proceed with the vote on the Bill, government coalition leaders had previously talked of conducting a special mid-year sitting of Parliament. A new year has loomed on the Parliament and the special sitting has yet to take place.

While voting on the Bill was on the Agenda during the first two sittings at Parliament in 2019, asking for a vote during the first sitting was prevented with only one MP left to fulfil quorum. Any Bill that requires the compliance of the people has to be passed on the Parliamentary floor with a minimum of 43 members present. The vote on Monday had seen a delay due to the attendance of only 42 members at Parliament.

While yesterday’s sitting saw a drop in quorum by a total of three members, 37 members were in attendance at Parliament yesterday.