Today's sitting of parliament was unable to proceed as MPs did not enter the chamber for about 45 minutes after it was due to begin.
Monday's sitting was due to begin as usual at 9 am. But Speaker Mohamed Nasheed waited for a long time as the minimum 28 MPs required for a quorum were not present. Despite not entering the chamber, several MPs were in the premises, Nasheed said after waiting a while.
"Honorable MPs are objecting to entering the chamber. The [Maldivian Democratic Party] MDP parliamentary group are under the umbrella [in the garden]. I will try again to talk to them and see if there's a way for Majlis to start," Nasheed said.
Around 9:45 am, Nasheed said he would see if the sitting could start at 10 am and adjourned proceedings.
After returning to the speaker's chair, Nasheed revealed that MDP MPs were refusing to attend the sitting because they were unhappy with the agenda. But despite their complaints, the agenda was not made in contravention of the rules, he said.
"In my view, there are no problems with today's agenda. The agenda is the same as any other day, it was made in accordance with the Majlis rules," Nasheed said.
He appealed for MPs to come inside and join the sitting.
Of the 87 MPs in parliament, only a few have been regularly attending recent sittings.
