Report: Soodh
Majlis sittings nowadays are held in an atmosphere of heated dialogues; members are divided in their opinion of what Islamic sharia means. The chapter under consideration is the chapter on judiciary.
The main agenda item of 197 sitting held Thursday morning was the submission of amendments proposed by members. Many of the amendments proposed include the inclusion of the phrase ‘Islamic Sharia” to some articles of the Bill. Members claimed that in chapter on Judiciary, Islamic sharia is rarely mentioned. Members even claimed that in the drafting of the Bill on Judiciary, consideration was not given to separation of powers as prescribed under the presidential system of governance preferred by people of Maldives in the recent public referendum held on August 18 of 2007.Members further claimed that the professor who was consulted in the drafting of the constitution, had told them, that in the drafting of the constitution the principles of parliamentary system of governance was used in order to strengthen the powers of the parliament.
During the time allocated for Thursday mornings sitting, amendments were proposed up to Article 9 of the Bill on Judiciary.
The first agenda item of the 198 sitting held on last Thursday afternoon was the submission of proposals for the last two articles of the draft Bill on Judiciary, namely Article 10 and Article 11.
After the submission of amendments for the draft Bill, the Chair gave the floor to the Chairman of the Drafting Committee Ibrahim Ismail, Ibra, to brief the Majlis on the main aspects considered during the draft process of the Bill.
Ibra briefing the Majlis on key aspects considered during the draft process said priority was given to the principles of separation of powers and that the people of the Maldives were deprived of their rights due the corrupt and weak judiciary in existence. He noted that members of the Drafting Committee paid particular attention to strengthening the powers of the judiciary and to make it independent. He urged the members to take in to consideration the context of the draft in its entirety rather than single articles, when proposing amendments.
He further said the draft Bill on Judiciary reflected the principles of Islam and Islamic Sharia but without the inclusion of the words Islamic Sharia in all articles. Ibra noted that this was the Majlis decision even though Members are strongly objecting to it.
Ibra’s commented were refuted by Raa Atoll Member Ali Waheed who said that Majlis passed a motion proposed by President’s Member Mohamed Saleem and seconded by President’s Member Dr.Ahmed Shareef to draft the Bill on Judiciary as per Islamic Sharia. Ali Waheed further noted that the present draft of the Bill is not in accordance with the guidelines passed by the Majlis for the draft.
After MP Ali Waheed’s comments floor was given to Raa Atoll Member Ibrahim Shaheed Zaki who accused Ibra, the Chair of the Drafting Committee, of trying to introduce un Islamic ways to the country. What followed Shaheed Zaki’s accusation was chaos as it angered Ibra who wanted to reply to Shaheed Zaki by raising point of order. However the Chair of the Majlis Speaker Qasim denied Ibra the opportunity to raise point of order. This increased Ibra’s anger even further who then was seen shouting at Shahid Zaki and waving his hands and was heard remarking “you are the one who didn’t want Islamic Sharia in the Bill, so it is no use arguing now”.
During the havoc that followed, MP for Laamu Atoll Rico Moosa Manik, MP for Shaviani Atoll Mohamed Riyaz, MP for Fuvahmulak Ibrahim Mohamed Didi and MP for Noonu Atoll Ibrahim Afeef all joined in a verbal attack on MP Shaheed Zaki. Soon MP’s of the main opposition party, MDP walked out of the Majlis Chambers which then led to loss of quorum.
At the 199 sitting of the Special Majlis that was held on last Thursday night, members who opposed the draft Bill said as Maldives was a 100% Islamic State, Islamic Sharia should be mentioned in the constitution. They noted that the draft Bill does not even indicate the countries 100% Islamic status.
Participating in the debate MP for Kaafu Atoll Maria Ahmed Didi said that to follow the draft Bill would mean following Islamic principles and Sharia. She said various religious schools of thought differ on Islamic Sharia and the draft was formulated to avoid such conflicts.
MP for Vaavu Atoll Moosa Nizar siad his attempts to include Islamic Sharia in to different Articles of the draft Bill were unsuccessful and said in many Islamic countries like Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia the words Islamic Sharia is repeatedly used in their constitutions.
Some Members proposed the time allocated for the sitting to be extended as they wanted to continue the debate further in order to clarify what is said in the draft.
When the time allocated for the sitting was over, the chair decided to further 10 minutes in lieu of the time lost. However most members were not in favor and reminded the Chair that 3 sittings had already been held that day. Some members then walked out which led to loss of quorum thus the sitting was adjourned.
The next of the Majlis is scheduled for tonight at 2030 hrs.
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