Speaker of the Parliament and former president Mohamed Nasheed has expressed concern that leaders of political parties do not attend parliament sittings.
Leader of Jumhooree Party Gasim Ibrahim and Maldives Development Alliance, MDA's Leader Ahmed Siyam are both members of the parliament.
Speaking at Tuesday's parliament sitting, Nasheed noted the absence of Maamigili MP Gasim and Meedhoo MP Siyam at regular parliament sittings. Nasheed said Gasim had not attended a sitting in over 1.5 years, and that Siyam is rarely seen at the parliament.
Nasheed also noted that Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem, the minority leader of opposing Progressive Party of Maldives PPM, hardly attends the regular parliament sittings. He further noted that it is disappointing that political parties do not make use of the time allocated to the parties when debating bills on the parliament floor.
