The Parliament of the Maldives is still in a deadlock after 12 members of the main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which has a supermajority, left the party.
As a consequence, the functioning of the parliamentary committees has come to a standstill, impeding the progress of no-confidence motions against the attorney general, foreign minister, speaker, and deputy speaker. The Parliament is also unable to fulfill its constitutional duties as the legislative body and address pressing public concerns as the ongoing political differences have prevented important matters from being put to a vote.
Additionally, Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has recused himself from presiding over parliamentary sittings. He said he is voluntarily abstaining from fulfilling his duty of presiding over sittings until a decision is taken on the no-confidence motion against him, in accordance with international best practices. He has also expressed his belief that that the no-confidence motions against him and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla were submitted with the intention to halt the work of the Parliament and advised MDP to withdraw on of the motions in order to resume parliamentary work.
Furthermore, Speaker Nasheed said that he maintains the support of parliamentarians, despite the no-confidence motion against him having been submitted with 54 signatures. As such, he said that now is not an appropriate time for him to resign from his position.
Since the submission of the no-confidence motion against him, Speaker Nasheed has refrained from presiding over any parliamentary sittings but continues to actively engage with members, meet with ambassadors, and set the agenda. In response, Majority Leader of Parliament Mohamed Aslam expressed his concern, saying that halting the parliamentary work is not considered best practice in any country. He emphasised that the Parliament can only resume other matters once the no-confidence motions against the speaker and deputy speaker are resolved. He also highlighted that the notices for both motions have expired, indicating that the Parliament is currently deviating from established regulations.
After Speaker Nasheed recused himself, the Secretary-General of the Parliament proposed solutions to proceed with the no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker. In a letter to the speaker, the secretary-general said that the no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker can proceed in the next sitting even without having to re-form the committees. The secretary-general said that the speaker is allowed to delegate the responsibility of presiding over the sitting to another person and that time for the debate can be allocated at the sitting in accordance with article 205(g) of the parliamentary regulations. She also requested the speaker to assure that the work of the Parliament can continue after he recused himself over the no-confidence motion against him.
In the absence of the speaker and deputy speaker, Parliamentarian Hassan Afeef has presided over the last three sittings. However, the Parliamentary regulations dictate that any member besides the speaker and deputy-speaker is only allowed to preside over three consecutive sittings. As such, Speaker Nasheed has said that no further sittings will be held for the remainder of the session.
The deadlock in Parliament has weakened the relationship between President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Speaker Nasheed, whose supporters are currently involved in forming The Democrats party and fielding a presidential candidate. If the deadlock persists, parliamentarians are expected to go to court to find a solution.