President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has announced that the day of Parliament opening for the new year, where the President will deliver his presidential address, will no longer be observed as a public holiday. The decision overturns a decree from 2019 during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's tenure, which had designated this day as a public holiday.
The President's Office disclosed on Thursday that Decree No. 4/2019, which had established the day of the Presidential Address as a public holiday, has been repealed. Instead, President Dr. Muizzu has declared the day the President makes his Presidential Address to the Parliament will be a non-holiday.
The Presidential Statement is required to be delivered by the President at the opening sitting of the first sitting of the year, in accordance with Article 84 of the Constitution. The article states that at the opening sitting of the first session of the year's term, the president must deliver a statement that outlines the current state of the country and the President's proposed measures for further improvement.
The Parliament is set to reopen on February 5 at 9:00 am, with the primary agenda centered around the delivery of the Presidential Address and the response from the minority party.
