People’s National Congress (PNC) lawmaker Dr. Anara Naeem said that she went with “the team” in voting in favor of the controversial government legislature to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices on Wednesday – despite deciding to abstain from the committee vote the previous day.
The amendment to the Judicature Act was submitted on Sunday night by Holhudhoo MP Abdul Sattar Mohamed – a member of PNC. The bill was presented, debated on and accepted into the Parliament on Tuesday, and the Judiciary Committee passed it without any changes in a meeting held shortly after the vote.
But the Huraa representative, who studied law and serves as deputy chair of the Judiciary Committee, had abstained from the vote when the committee passed the bill, citing that she finds the deadlines written in the bill far too short.
The amendment to the Judicature Act is designed to downsize the Supreme Court’s bench from seven to five justices – meaning that two incumbent justices will need to be removed.
The amendment requires Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to submit the names of the justices they want removed to the Parliament within five days the legislature takes effect. And the Parliament is required to make a decision within seven days of submission.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Anara said she finds five days to be too short a timeframe. But she did not propose an amendment, and the committee passed the bill without any changes.
The Parliament took the floor vote on the bill on Wednesday morning after ejecting three parliamentarians from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) who protested against the legislature as well as the decision to ignore concerns raised by Counsel General Fathimath Filza.
The bill passed with a majority vote of 68-9.
 While PNC lawmaker Ahmed Azaan Marzooq - who like Anara had expressed reservations about the bill - stuck to his stand and quietly walking out of the chamber as the voting began - Anara voted in favor of the bill.
In a post on X shortly after, Anara said that she will voice her opinion at committees.
“But I believe that when a majority decision is made, I must go with the team. Thank you,” she said.
Committee ga bill thakah khiyaalu faalhukuran. Namaves majority in kameh nimmaairu dhaanjehenee team aa eku kamah gaboolukuran. Shukriyya
— Dr. Anara Naeem (@AnaraNaeem) February 26, 2025
But her decision has been criticized by several legal experts.
Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed, a former attorney general, shared a post on Facebook in which she asked if one should go with the team even if the someone was to “put their hands in and squeeze the throat of” the system the people have to turn towards to seek justice.
 
“If that is the case, such people are a disgrace to their field,” she said, attaching a screenshot of Anara’s post.
The move to submit a bill to reduce the Supreme Court bench followed weekslong allegations by the MDP that the government is seeking to dismiss some of the members of the top court’s bench to influence a case challenging a contentious amendment to add anti-defection provisions to the Constitution.
The constitutional amendment in question was submitted, passed and ratified in quick succession on November 20. The controversial amendment added three more circumstances where parliamentarians will lose their seat, including if they are expelled from their political party.
Former Kendhoo MP Ali Hussain, an attorney-at-law, filed a constitutional case with the top court on November 24, arguing that the amendment violates key provisions of the Constitution, as well as the basic structure doctrine.
Hearings in the case began on February 17 – nearly three months after the case was filed. The state filed a motion to have the case tossed out, arguing that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to hear it. But the bench decided on February 18 to proceed with the case, and gave the state 10 days to build their case.
Opposition parties, including the MDP and the Democrats have questioned the timing of the bill, and accused the government of attempting attemting to influence the country's highest judicial authority and subvert judicial independence.
The rushed passage of the bill comes one hour ahead of a hearing scheduled at the Supreme Court regarding a request for an injunction to suspend the enforcement of the anti-defection clauses.
But shortly before the hearing had been set to begin at 11:00 am, the JSC announced that three Supreme Court justices – Husnu Al-Suood, Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir – had been suspended in light of criminal investigations against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
With the suspension of the justices, the key constitutional case is now stalled.