The Speaker of Parliament Doctor Jiko Luveni has ruled that the Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has not misled parliament or brought dishonor or disrepute to the parliament when he was talking about the census.
This is in regards to the issue raised by the National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad that Sayed‑Khaiyum had allegedly breached the Standing Orders and had allegedly misled and brought dishonour and disrepute to parliament.
Doctor Luveni says that the video of the parliament proceedings shows that the Attorney General did not make any reference to the 2000 census when responding to the supplementary question by Professor Prasad.
She says given that the Attorney General did not refer to the 2000 census, the first aspect of the Point of Order raised by Professor Prasad is incorrect.
She says indeed, we are aware that there was no census conducted in 2000.
Doctor Luveni also says that in responding to the supplementary question by Professor Prasad, the Attorney General did not make any reference to the 2007 census nor did he say at any time that there was no aggregation of data based on ethnicity in 2017.
Doctor Luveni says that in making her ruling, she has not only considered the uncorrected copy of the daily Hansard but she has also watched the video of the parliament proceedings from Monday.
She has also said that she watched the parliament proceedings from Wednesday when Professor Prasad made the Point of Order.
