Update on the Current Situation in the Maldives (20/02/2018): Parliamentary Standing Committee votes to extend State of Emergency easing Constitutional Restrictions

Parliamentary Standing Committee votes to extend State of Emergency easing Constitutional Restrictions

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Security yesterday voted to extend the State of Emergency by thirty days easing constitutional restrictions. The extension was submitted by the request of the President due to the present threat to national security and the constitutional crisis posed by the events leading up to and following the ruling issued by the Supreme Court on 1 February 2018. The request by the President for an extension of the State of Emergency was deliberated by the Parliament yesterday.

The Committee also decided that under the State of Emergency, the following Articles of the Constitution would no longer be restricted upon its extension:

1. Article 100 (Removal of the President or Vice President)
2. Article 101 (Vote of no confidence for a Member of the Cabinet)
3. Article 113 (Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on the Impeachment of the President)
4. Article 228 (Removal of the Prosecutor General from office)

The Government also notes that while the Oppositions MPs did not attend the Session in Chamber yesterday, Opposition MPs joined the debate in Committee.

President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, on 5 February 2018 declared a State of Emergency by Presidential Decree No. 2018/3, under Article 253 of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives.

As per the Presidential Decree, the state of emergency was enforced in order to protect the peace and welfare of all citizens and the country, following the events that unfolded in relation to the Supreme Court Order No. 2018/SC-SJ/01, issued on 1 February 2018; which has resulted in; the disruption of the functions of the executive power and the State institutions vested with specific mandates under the Constitution, the infringement of national security and public interest, and if implemented, which would potentially lead to an undermining of the supremacy of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives.

Despite the declaration of the state of emergency, there will be no enforcement of a curfew; and general movements, services and businesses will not be affected.