The Attorney General's Office today argued in the Supreme Court that it is not appropriate to change the process of counting the total number of MPs so that a smaller majority is needed to approve major decisions such as impeachment.
According to amendments to the Parliament's rules of procedure, vacant seats will not be counted when considering the total number of MPs. So the total number of MPs is currently down to 80 as seven seats remain vacant.
The Attorney General's Office asked the Supreme Court to determine that the majority of the Parliament remains unchanged from the 87 MPs elected for the ongoing 19th Session of the People's Majlis.
Supreme Court justices posed several questions to lawyers from the Attorney General's Office during today's hearing. They were mainly focused on the provision in the Constitution which states that a by-election must not be held to elect new MPs for vacant seats if there is less than six months to the next general elections.
Seven seats remain vacant after elected MPs gave up their seats for senior government positions in November. There were less than six months to the next general elections which are currently planned for March 17.
Justice Husnu Suood questioned on what would happen if so many MPs resigned that the quorum of a sitting was not reached during the six months. The quorum is one-fourth of the total number of MPs.
Attorney General's Office Counsel General Fathimath Haleem said she believes the Parliament would come to a halt in a situation with a lack of quorum. But she noted that with the recent changes, major decisions like amending the Constitution or impeaching the President can be done with a small majority.
"The rights of both sides have to be considered. Major decisions such as amending the Constitution should be done in a way so that the people of a constituency with an empty seat can also be represented," she said.
“For example, there are 20 MPs. A bill can be passed by 11 MPs in such a circumstance. If it is decided by such a small majority, it is a decision that does not have total representation of the people,” she added.
The hearings in the case were concluded today.
While the Parliament has already approved bills and decisions with the new majority, questions remain over what will happen to those bills and decisions because of the case. However, the Attorney General's Office did not discuss those questions.
Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir told the court that a further hearing might be scheduled if more matters need to be clarified.
A five-judge bench is overseeing the case in the Supreme Court. The presiding Justice is Dr. Azmiralda. The other Justices on the bench are Aisha Shujoon, Husnu Suood, Mahaz Ali and Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim.
According to the Constitution, the President and Vice President can be impeached by a two-thirds majority of the total number of MPs. That is 58 of the 87 MPs elected for the current term.
However, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) controlled Parliament changed the rules of procedure to not count vacant seats when considering the total number of MPs. This brought the total number of MPs at present down to 80 meaning that the President can impeached with the votes of 54 MPs.
MDP and opposition-aligned Democrats have 56 MPs in Parliament. The two parties which have announced that they are working together can impeach President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
The MDP has previously collected enough signatures to move the impeachment motion to Parliament. However, the matter has not yet been submitted.
MDP MPs say they will take the matter to parliament at the "right" time.
