The Parliament remained closed on Tuesday even as government offices reopened after the long Eid al-Adha holiday.
The Parliament had closed for the holiday on June 3, a day after it reconvened after recess for the second session of the year.
But while government offices reopened after Eid on Tuesday, the Parliament does not have a sitting scheduled until Wednesday.
According to the agenda released by the Parliament for Wednesday, lawmakers are scheduled to hear the Judiciary Committee’s report on President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s nominees for two vacancies in the Supreme Court bench. The committee had voted in favor of the nominees - High Court’s sitting judge Mohamed Saleem and former judge Abdulla Hameed - on June 4.
They are also scheduled to debate on an amendment to the Civil Aviation Authority Act, and hear the Foreign Relations Committee’s report on President Muizzu’s nominee for the role of non-residential ambassador for Nepal.
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla presides over a parliamentary sitting on April 15, 2025. (Photo/People's Majlis)
The Parliament’s standing orders dictates that the legislative assembly must hold sittings three days a week; on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
But the Parliament has been hit with criticism for failure to hold regular sittings, with parliamentarians not provided a specific reason for such decisions.
Parliamentarians from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who hold just 12 out of 93 seats in the Parliament, have repeatedly expressed concern over unexplained cancellation of parliamentary sittings.
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla had previously hit back at the criticism, saying that while the Parliament may not be holding sittings due to lack of work that can be done on the floor, committees continue to do work.
Disgruntlement about the seemingly little work parliamentarians engage in recently sparked a petition calling a reduction in the MVR 82,500 monthly renumeration they receive.