Speaker suggests extraordinary sitting to take Cabinet approval vote

Speaker Mohamed Aslam said on Thursday that he will not extend the third session of the Parliament for a fourth time, but will arrange for an extraordinary sitting upon request, in order to take the crucial vote on approval for the new Cabinet.

The Parliament is holding its last sitting of the year on Thursday, before going to recess. It has not made a decision on approval for President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s 22-member Cabinet, which has remained stymied at the committee stage for weeks.

Opening Thursday’s sitting, Aslam said that if the Government Oversight Committee finishes its report on the Cabinet, then an extraordinary sitting could be held during recess to take the vote.

“If honorable parliamentarians request an extraordinary sitting under the Parliament’s Standing Orders once the committee finishes and sends the report, then the report will be tabled for a [extraordinary] sitting and we will try to finish Cabinet approval,” he said.

It marks the first time for the Parliament to go into recess without approving a Cabinet.

President Muizzu made a formal request for the approval of his Cabinet on November 20, two days after the new administration took office.

The Parliament had been scheduled to vote on the Cabinet on December 18, but the original committee report was sent back to the committee, after Aslam decided the report was incomplete, and because the committee hadn’t approved the mandate for government ministries.

But the committee has not held a meeting, since then.

Mohamed Falah, the chair of the Parliament’s Government Oversight Committee, said that many of the parliamentarians were out of Male’ for the school holidays, and that the committee did not have the quorum to review the request for Cabinet approval.

He said the committee will not be able to finish its work until after the holidays.

The delay in approval for the new Cabinet had sparked criticism against the MDP – which holds a majority in the Parliament. Several MDP parliamentarians have been vocal in their disapproval of some of the new ministers.