The Parliament of the Maldives has officially notified Minister of Communication, Science and Technology Mohamed Maleeh Jamal on the no-confidence motion launched against him.
The no-confidence motion against Minister Maleeh was submitted to the Parliament last week by the Parliamentary Group (PG) Leader of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Ali Azim. As per the standard procedure on no-confidence motions, the Parliament has notified Maleeh on the motion in order to give him time to prepare his defence.
The Constitution of the Maldives states a minister must be notified on any no-confidence motion launched against minister 14 days before deliberations on the motion begin at the Parliament. The minister has the right to work in his or her defence in either written or spoken form during the deliberations.
The decision to initiate the no-confidence motion against Maleeh was passed by the MDP PG on November 22 last year. The no-confidence motion was initiated by Parliamentarian Meekail Ahmed Naseem, citing Maleeh’s failure to fulfill his responsibilities in formulating the regulations mandated under the Telecommunication Act.
The letter by Parliamentarian Meekail Ahmed Naseem to the MDP PG noted the Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM) has not formulated any of the regulations required under the Telecommunication Act in the past two years. Noting the responsibility lies on the ministry tasked with overseeing CAM, Parliamentarian Meekail said Maleeh’s failure to carry out his responsibilities has hindered the efforts to regulate the telecommunication sector of the Maldives.