Parliament Rejects Emergency Motion Regarding Israel Passport Ban
Photo: Parliament
Parliament rejected the emergency motion submitted by MP for Kendhoo constituency Mauroof Zakir today regarding the delay in banning Israeli passports to the Maldives.
Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Ahmed Nazim, who was presiding over today’s meeting, said the emergency motion submitted by Mauroof does not meet the criteria for it to be considered as such and therefore rejected the motion.
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“Article 192 (b) of the Rules of Parliament states that an emergency issue is a sudden event that directly affects the citizens or the interests of the country that requires to be brought to the attention of the government immediately, or to criticise any action the government has taken or not taken regarding such a matter,” Vice Speaker Nazim said.
The emergency motion submitted by MP Mauroof said the MP for the South Galolhu constituency Meekail Naseem submitted an amendment to the Immigration Act to ban the entry of Israeli passports to the Maldives to the parliament on June 2, last year. The same day, the government had a cabinet meeting, following which they announced they would ban Israeli passports to the Maldives. However, since then, even though the parliament accepted the amendment on June 10 and sent it to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, no further action has been taken.
The rejected emergency motion states that despite the government of Maldives continuously reiterating that it does not condone the genocide against Palestinians by Israel, it has refused to take further action against banning Israeli passports. Mauroof criticised the current parliament, in which the ruling party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), holds the majority of the seats, for delaying the approval of this amendment, especially when the parliament passes PNC-backed bills after short discussions.
Mauroof had called upon the parliament to pass the amendment and ban Israeli passports immediately.
Later, during the parliamentary session, Mauroof said that he is saddened that Deputy Speaker Nazim does not deem the genocide in Palestine to be an issue of national importance to the Maldives.
