Parliament Sitting Cancelled After Quorum Not Met

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim cancelled today’s parliamentary sitting after the chamber failed to meet the minimum quorum requirement, despite delaying the session start from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Parliamentary sittings are normally scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m. after the quorum bell is rung. However, today’s sitting had still not commenced by 9:10 a.m.

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Presiding over the sitting, Ahmed Nazim stated that although the quorum bell had been rung, the required number of members had not been reached. He then announced that the sitting would instead begin at 10:00 a.m.

Under the Standing Orders of Parliament, the legal quorum required to hold a sitting is 25 percent of members. In the current 20th Parliament, which consists of 93 members, at least 23 members must be present for proceedings to begin.

Despite the delayed start, the sitting was ultimately cancelled after quorum was still not met.

Several sittings during the current parliamentary term have also failed to proceed. According to parliamentary records, only 18 sittings had been held during the term as of yesterday.

Under parliamentary regulations, the current term is scheduled to conclude tomorrow before Parliament enters recess.

Meanwhile, Mauroof Zakir accused members of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) of intentionally preventing the sitting from proceeding by remaining outside the chamber.

In a post on X, Mauroof from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) alleged that PNC members acted under instructions from party leadership to avoid meeting quorum requirements.

“Under a gag order, members belonging to the PNC today stayed outside without entering the Majlis floor, losing the quorum and delaying the start of the session,” Mauroof said on X.

Gag order eh ge dhashun miadhu PNC an nisbai vaa memberun majleehuge thalhumah nuvadhe beyrugai hifahattai quorum gelluvailaa majlis feshun laskoffi pic.twitter.com/oA21cmd0sy— Mauroof-TEAM (@MateyZakir) May 13, 2026

The Parliament currently operates with a government supermajority and has 92 active members, as the North Hithadhoo seat remains vacant. Of the sitting members, 75 belong to the PNC, 12 represent the MDP, while two serve as independents. The chamber also includes one member each from the Jumhooree Party and the Maldives National Party.

Members receive state-funded salaries and allowances, while Parliament’s administrative operations are also financed through the state budget.

However, concerns have frequently been raised over the number of sittings held and the level of parliamentary activity relative to public expenditure.