The People’s Majlis has amended its Standing Orders to allow for the submission of multiple petitions seeking the same action or remedy previously proposed in a petition already under consideration by the parliament.
The amendment to repeal Article 257-1 (h) of the Standing Orders was proposed by Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh. The provision stipulated that no further petitions could be submitted requesting an action that was already being sought through a petition previously filed with the Majlis.
The parliament passed the motion to repeal the article with 56 members voting in favor, while 10 members voted against the change.
This amendment follows an incident where a government-backed petition—calling for the passage of a bill that would allow the government to take over land managed by local councils—was sent to committee by mistake. The rule change facilitates the resubmission of such petitions.
Efforts to collect signatures for a petition supporting the proposed amendments to the Decentralization Act began last Sunday. The bill seeks to grant the government the authority to take over land within the jurisdiction of island and city councils at any time for development projects. The petition drive was initiated by the President of the Meedhoo Council, Ahmed Shathir, with government backing.
This came in response to an earlier petition opposing the bill, which had already reached the floor of the Majlis. That petition, submitted by social media activist Midhuam Saud, calls for the withdrawal of the bill on the grounds that it contradicts the spirit of decentralization.
However, the government-backed petition was forwarded to the committee with 855 signatures. It is understood that this transfer occurred in error. Under the previous rules, there would have been no further opportunity to collect the additional signatures required to mandate a debate on the petition on the Majlis floor.
According to the Majlis Standing Orders, a petition signed by 0.2 percent of the Maldivian population may be submitted to a parliamentary committee. However, a floor debate is only mandated for petitions signed by at least 0.5 percent of the population. Based on current population figures, 0.2 percent equates to approximately 840 signatures, while 0.5 percent requires 2,100 signatures.
