Bill on electoral boundaries sent to committee

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

People’s Majlis on Monday passed to accept bill on allocation electoral boundaries and to forward it to a seven member Majlis adhoc committee for further evaluation.

The bill on allocation of electoral boundaries was accepted to Majlis with 37 members voting in favor. When it was decided to send the bill to a Majlis adhoc committee, Majlis voted to send the bill to a seven member adhoc committee proposed and supported by Thaa MP Hassan Afeef and Laamu MP Moosa Manik. Majlis voted in favor of the Afeef’s committee by 19 votes out 33 votes. A total of 39 members were in attendance out of which 33 members participated in the vote. 14 members voted against sending the bill to the committee proposed and 4 members abstained. In addition to bill on allocation electoral boundaries, bill on general elections was also forwarded to a seven member adhoc committee.

The seven member Majlis adhoc committee to which the bill on electoral boundaries was forwarded to comprises of Faafu member Ahmed Hamza, Thaa member Mohamed Shareef, Baa member Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, Ga member Abdulla Jabir, Presidential Appointee to Majlis Ahmed Sameer, Vaavu member Ismail Shihab and Adh member Abdul Muhusin Abdulla.

Ga member Abdulla Jabir speaking at the Majlis said the Majlis the bill has many deficiencies and the bill must include details of how electoral boundaries were determined. He said the bill must explain how the boundaries were determined and that his atoll, Ga atoll, includes 2 electorates which neither he nor his people are aware how it was determined. He further criticized incumbent Presidential Advisor former President Gayoom’s Attorney General Dr. Hassan Saeed. Jabir said Dr. Hassan Saeed’s portfolio is to advice the President and the government and not discredit the parliament. Jabir who is one of the Deputy Leaders of Jumhoory Party (JP) forming the ruling coalition also said some people were just working on ‘getting medals’ in the guise of protecting the best interest of the people.

Kaafu member Ismail Abdul Hameed speaking on the bill asked who is to assume responsibility if parliamentary elections cannot be held as called for in the constitution. He expressed that bill on electoral boundaries provides Election Commission with wider powers and greater responsibility.

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