Maldives leader seeks approval to extend state-of-emergency

NAN-F-33
Approval
Male, Feb. 19, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Maldives President, Abdulla Yameen, on Monday sought parliamentary approval to extend a state-of-emergency for 30 days in the Indian Ocean archipelago as “the situation has not changed,” a parliamentarian said.
Yameen imposed the emergency on Feb. 5 for 15 days to annul a Supreme Court ruling that quashed convictions against nine opposition leaders and ordered his government to free those held in prison.
The state-of-emergency was to end on Tuesday.
Deputy Parliamentary Secretary-General, Fathmath Niusha, told the legislature that Yameen wanted its vote to prolong the emergency.
The opposition responded that this would not be possible without a quorum of at least 43 members in the 85-member parliament.
No opposition member showed up for Monday’s session, leaving only 39 present from the ruling party.
In its ruling in January, the High Court had ordered the reinstatement on constitutional grounds, of 12 lawmakers stripped of their parliamentary seats by Yameen’s party for defecting in 2017.
Without the 12 members, the government retains a majority in parliament.
Under the emergency, Yameen’s administration has arrested the Chief Justice, another Supreme Court judge and former President Maumoon Gayoom on allegations of attempting to overthrow the government.
Ruling and opposition party leaders clashed over whether parliament’s approval was required under the constitution.
“If the opposition wants to annul this declaration, they have to go to the parliament and ask for a vote.
“The emergency does not become void because parliament does not approve it,” ruling party group leader in parliament, Ahmed Nihan, said.
Ibrahim Solih, opposition parliamentary group leader, said that the Constitution “clearly states” parliament’s indispensable role in extending an emergency.
“If this is not approved (by parliament), it is going to be invalid.
“Once the emergency becomes void, everything done under that state-of-emergency also will be void and invalid.”
Though Yameen has ignored the court rulings, he has stopped short of saying he will not obey them.
He has fired two police chiefs who said they would uphold the court verdict, however, and has continued to jail opposition members.
China, India, the U.S. and Britain issued travel warnings after Yameen imposed the emergency and arrested judges while the UN called for lifting of the emergency.
The tiny Indian Ocean island chain is best known for its luxury hotels, scuba-diving resorts and limpid tropical seas. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole and Olisa Ifeajika