The ruling Peoples' National Congress (PNC) has been declared the minority party in the party.
At Sunday's Parliament sitting, Speaker Mohamed Aslam announced that the Elections Commission (EC) has informed that 12 MPs who were previously listed as Maldivian Democrat Party (MDP) members are now listed as PNC members. They are:
Nilandhoo MP Abdul Muhsin Hameed
Feydhu MP Mohamed Nihad
Isdhoo MP Ali Hameed
Machhangolhi South Constituency MP Ahmed Haitham
Kurendhoo MP Abdul Ghani Abdul Hakeem
Kanditheemu MP Abdulla Shaheem Abdul Hakeem
Mathiveri MP Hassan Zareer
Mulah MP Ibrahim Naseer
Maafannu South MP Adam Ali
Komandoo MP Mohamed Rashid
Thoddoo MP Hassan Shiyan
Guraidhoo MP Ibrahim Shaz
All 12 MPs signed up for PNC on December 28 last year. However, the list announced on Sunday did not include Marahdhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef and Inguraidhoo MP Hassan Ahmed who also joined PNC on December 28. The parliamentary office clarified that although these two members had changed parties on the same date, the necessary documents for their announcement had not been received by the parliament. The information was subsequently provided after the announcement of the 12 MPs who changed parties.
With this change, the current minority leader of the parliament is Fonadhoo MP Moosa Siraj. The updated composition of parties in Parliament, including MPs Shareef and Hassan, is as follows:
MDP - 42 members
PNC - 16 members
The Democrats - 13 members
PPM - 2 members
MDA - 2 members
JP - 2 members
Independent - 3 members
The new change in party composition will affect debate time allocated for MPs representing political parties and independent candidates, and compositions of standing committees.
