President Yameen concludes presidential address without stating present crisis in Maldives

• The inaugural sitting of parliament was held on Wednesday night

• There were only 36 members in attendance

• The President highlighted the various projects his administration had completed in the past four years

President Abdulla Yameen concluded the presidential address at the first sitting of the parliament in under 30 minutes, without mentioning the current crisis in the country.

While the ruling coalition is said to have 41 members in its side, there were only 36 in attendance tonight at Dharubaaruge, where the sitting was held.

During his address, the President highlighted the various projects his administration had completed in the past four years.

However, Article 84 of the Constitution states that ‘at the beginning of the first session of each year at the first sitting, the President shall address the People’s Majlis on the state of the country, and may present proposals for improving the state of the country to the People’s Majlis’. It has to be held on the first Monday or Thursday of February.

While the parliament sessions were to start on the 5th February, the inaugural sitting was cancelled due to ‘security reasons’. The same day, a state of emergency was announced. An extraordinary session of the Parliament was held on Monday and Tuesday, where the government proposed and approved to extend the state of emergency by 30 days. Opposition parliamentarians had boycotted the session. The vote was passed without the constitutionally required quorum.