Lawmaker calls for ‘cleanup’ of courthouses ahead of parliamentary recess

Dhaandhoo MP Yauqoob Abdulla has called for the Parliament to respect the wishes of the public and reform the Maldivian judiciary before it goes into recess.

Youqoob made the appeal during the debate on the report compiled by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which alleges 17 unlawful rulings issued by the Supreme Court.

Speaking during the debate this Sunday, Yauqoob said that the JSC’s report had been unnecessary, and that the public opinion alone was enough to establish the lack of faith in Supreme Court justices and the need to ‘cleanup’ the country’s courthouses.

“We don’t need any further research on the judges on this country, especially the Supreme Court justices. To compile an additional report. To conduct an additional investigation,” said Yauqoob.

He said that the very reason the current parliamentarians were elected by the people was to reform the judiciary.

He questioned why the Parliament was debating on another report regarding the issue three months after it was sworn-in.

“The next step is to impeach them,” said Yauqoob.

He said that evaluation of reports and debates was a waste of time.

“I think about how the people of this country remain on the streets while we have been going home with our salaries for three months now. We are going without completing the responsibility the people of this country tasked us with. I believe this work can be done in just one day,” said Yauqoob.

He questioned the administration’s plan for judicial reform, and said that the question had remained unanswered to date.

“And to date, I don’t know what our plan is to reform the judiciary,” said Yauqoob.

He called on the Parliament to reform and ‘clean’ the country’s courthouses before it goes into recess.

He also called for the impeachment of Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham.

“It is an act of treason against the people to waste our time debating over such reports. Given the upcoming parliamentary recess, I respectfully ask that we complete this work before we go into recess,” said Yauqoob.

He said that he, personally, was ready to complete the task before recess.

Speaker of Parliament, former President Mohamed Nasheed has declared judicial reform as the Parliament’s top priority.

He said that it was unwise to tackle any other work before tackling judicial reform as had been decided six months ago.

He said that all of Parliament’s work is being carried out as scheduled.