An amendment has been proposed to the Parliament's rules of procedure to summon and question the President and Vice President.
The amendment was proposed by Deputy Speaker and Hoarafushi MP Ahmed Saleem from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
He made the proposal while introducing the bill to repeal the Addressing of Questions to Cabinet Ministers Act.
Saleem said the Parliament had been unable to summon and question the President and Vice President because of the Act on questioning ministers.
He said the Constitution already gives Parliament the power to summon the President, Vice President, Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials.
“The Cabinet is not just ministers. The two most senior people in the Cabinet are the President and his Deputy,” Saleem said.
While Saleem has proposed an amendment to the rules of procedure to summon the President and Vice President, the current ruling party also tried to summon former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for questioning when they were in the opposition.
The minority party tried to summon Solih over allegations that his government from 2018 and 2023 had failed to put the interests of the state in the maritime boundary dispute between Maldives and Mauritius at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
MDP, which was the ruling party at the time and held Parliament majority, did not decide on summoning the President.
The amendment to the rules of procedure to summon the President and Vice President comes as the MDP has also expressed views on impeaching President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. MDP MPs say the impeachment motion will be moved "at the right time."
