Employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been coerced into signing a government-backed petition supporting a bill that would allow the central government to reclaim land currently under the jurisdiction of local councils.
Following an amendment to the Parliament’s Standing Orders that now permits multiple petitions on the same issue, the government-led initiative began collecting signatures yesterday. To date, more than 6,800 individuals have signed the petition calling for the passage of the controversial bill.
Employees from several major SOEs, including the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), Road Development Corporation (RDC), Fenaka Corporation, Waste Management Corporation (WAMCO), and STELCO, have confirmed to Adhadhu that they were pressured by management to sign the document.
Staff members were instructed to sign the petition and notify their supervisors of their compliance before midnight.
"Everyone has been ordered to sign. They are monitoring who signs and who doesn't, and they have warned that action will be taken against those who refuse," an HDC employee said.
This marks the second government petition aimed at securing legislative support for the bill, which seeks to transfer land management authority from local councils back to the central government.
The first petition failed to reach the parliamentary floor for debate after the organizer prematurely submitted it to the committee stage upon reaching 855 signatures. This procedural error effectively exhausted the opportunity to meet the signature threshold required for a full floor debate under the previous rules.
In response to this setback, Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdhooh of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) proposed an amendment to repeal Article 257-1 (h) of the Parliament’s Standing Orders. The clause previously prohibited the submission of additional petitions requesting the same action on a matter already before Parliament.
The amendment was passed by Parliament yesterday with 56 members voting in favor and 10 members voting against, successfully removing the restriction.
The government’s aggressive push for a counter-petition comes after a separate public petition, spearheaded by social media activist Midhuam Saud, successfully reached the parliamentary floor. That petition calls for the bill to be withdrawn, arguing that it violates the spirit of the Decentralization Act.
