Ibrahim Falah, the PG leader of the ruling PNC party and member for Inguraidhoo constituency, said today that changing members in parliamentary committees is always happening. Falah made this statement during today’s parliamentary session, at a time when some parties have been criticizing the changes made to committees. As such, the Speaker of Parliament has appointed Ahmed Aifan, member for Henveiru North constituency, to the Public Finance Committee in place of Ahmed Azaan, member for Hithadhoo Central constituency. And Mohamed Ismail, member for Vilimale’ constituency, has been appointed to the 241 Committee in place of Azaan.
Azaan has been moved from these two committees to the Privileges and Ethics Committee and the Petition Committee. In a post on “X”, Falah said that changing members from one committee to another in parliamentary committees is always happening in parliamentary groups, and that such changes are made based on factors such as the number of PG group members, the number of committees, the importance members give to committee attendance, and the attention given to committee work. He said this has been common practice in the 17th, 18th, and 19th parliaments as well.
Therefore, such changes have been made in the 20th parliament as well, and changes needed for committees at any given time will continue to be made in the future, Falah said.
Many PNC members in parliament had previously called for Azaan to be removed from two powerful committees in parliament and transferred to two other committees. There have been differences of opinion between Azaan and PNC members for some time. This action was taken against Azaan after he began speaking out against the bill to amend the law on courts in the Maldives, which would reduce the Supreme Court bench from seven to five and require the dismissal of two judges. Azaan had abstained from two votes related to the bill, violating the three-line whip.
Many people took notice when Azaan left the parliament floor when the vote was called to pass the bill. PNC member for Hoarafushi constituency, Abdussattar Mohamed, passed the bill to amend the law on courts through a roll call vote in parliament. The bill passed with a majority of 68 members who participated in the voting. Nine members voted against passing the bill.
