The main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s Parliamentary Group Leader, Mohamed Aslam, has said action will be taken against the party's MPs who did not vote in favor of next year's budget.
On Monday, the Parliament approved an MVR 42.8 billion budget for next year. While 61 members voted in favor of the budget, eight members voted against it. Seven MDP MPs aligned with Parliament Mohamed Nasheed abstained from the vote, despite the party issuing a three-line whip to pass the budget.
MDP members who abstained from the vote:
Maafannu Central MP Ibrahim Rasheed (Bonde)
Henveiru West MP Hassan Lateef
Maafannu North MP Imthiyaz Fahmy
Ungoofaaru MP Mohamed Waheed
Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb
Gadhdhoo MP Ahmed Zahir
Henveiru Central MP Ali Azim
Regarding the members who acted in violation of the whip line, MDP's PG leader said going against the whip line was a grave mistake made by some MPs. Therefore, action will be taken against such members. He did not say what action would be taken against them.
Fourteen members of the MDP parliamentary group had also voted against the whip line on the bill to increase TGST and GST. The MDP parliamentary group has also decided to take action against these members.
MDP's Parliamentary Group Leader Mohamed Aslam
