Male: In a historic move, the Maldives Parliament will become the first parliament in the world to conduct its proceedings via video conference as social distancing becomes the norm to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 28, the Speaker of the House Mohamed Nasheed was the first to participate.

“The world’s parliaments cannot just stop representing their people during this crisis. The institutions of democracy must continue to function. The Maldivian parliament will go on, meeting online, and all its work will continue unimpeded," said Nasheed.” “This is truly the most important time to run the state as a constitutional state.”

“The pandemic will change the world order; how we live; and how we produce and consume goods and services,” Nasheed was quoted by the Maldivian media.

Maldives "has always managed to overcome challenges, no matter how big,"  he said, adding that he’s "confident we will emerge from this one, and prosper once more.”

"Despite Members not being physically present in the parliamentary chambers, the work of the parliament will continue as normal, with all parliamentary functions, such as votes, debates, and committee meetings, taking place online,” said Director of Media and Communications of the Maldives Parliament, Hassan Ziyau.

Virtual sessions for the parliament were arranged so that MPs could now take part in sessions just as they would do by personally attending the parliament.

The Speaker of the parliament took part in the session from the Parliament while most MPs participated from their homes. MP Abdulla Jabir stole the spotlight by appearing at the session from the beautiful beaches of Bodumohoraa Island.

The online sessions also gained notice from other countries and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, a global inter-parliamentary institution, also noted Maldivian Parliament virtual sessions.