Voting on audit budget delayed due to lack of quorum

The People’s Majlis sitting this Tuesday has been cut short and the voting on the Auditor General’s Office budget for 2019 has been postponed due to lack of quorum.

Voting was cancelled when only seven lawmakers attended the Majlis for the sitting after recess this Tuesday afternoon.

Majlis regulation requires at least 22 lawmakers to be present during a vote.

Addressing the Majlis, Deputy Speaker Moosa Manik stressed the importance of the vote on the Auditor General’s Office budget, and noted that 70 lawmakers attended the sittings held just two days ago. He appealed to lawmakers to show the same degree of cooperation during all Majlis sittings.

The Public Finance Committee has voted on a MVR 52 million budget for the Auditor General’s Office, and the lawmakers were scheduled to vote on the findings of the committee this afternoon.

Deputy Leader of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)’s parliamentary group, Vilimale’ MP Ahmed Nihan Hussain Manik criticized opposition lawmakers when they failed to show up to the debate on the Auditor General’s Office budget before recess this Tuesday morning.

Nihan said the opposition lawmakers were in the Majlis premises, but in the tearoom sipping tea instead of attending the sitting.

“They found it no problem having to spend so much time in those sittings. They were able to come here that day for the sake of the lawmakers undergoing legal proceedings over their parliamentary seats and the sake of others,” said Nihan, referring to the two consecutive Majlis sittings held last Sunday.