In today’s meeting, the committee reviewed the issues submitted to the committee.

The first issue was a issue submitted by Velidhoo Constituency Member Mohamed Abbas requesting the inclusion of parents of Parliament Members in the health insurance scheme, and the inclusion of parents and children of the Parliament Members in the VIP service provided to them.

After discussion, the committee highlighted that the insurance service provided to Parliament Members is provided by law, which does not include parents among the insurance providers by the state, but Parliament members can include their parents in the insurance package provided for the members by paying their own insurance premium in one lump sum. Therefore, the committee decided to inform of the same to Velidhoo Constituency Member Mohamed Abbas.

In addition, the committee members discussed the request of Velidhoo Constituency Member Mohammed Abbas to include parents and children of the Parliament Members in the VIP service provided to them. After the discussion, the committee members highlighted that the VIP service provided to Parliament Members is already available to them.

The second issue which was reviewed by the committee was a issue submitted by North Galolhu Constituency Member Mohamed Ibrahim requesting to involve women Members of Parliament or seek technical assistance from outside Parliament in investigating allegations of sexual harassment brought before Parliament, and to enable that this process is carried out in accordance with the Standing Order of the Parliament.

Through the discussion, the committee members highlighted that it is not legally possible, however, if the complainant requests to include women members in the meeting of a committee, such arrangements have already been made under Article 151 (a) of the Standing Order of the Parliament. The committee decided to inform North Galolhu Constituency Member Mohamed Ibrahim of the same, and to inform the member, that parliament committees have the opportunity to seek technical assistance from outside Parliament in investigating cases of sexual harassment.