The main ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has submitted a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla. The motion was submitted to the Parliament with 50 signatures, including 49 from MDP members and one independent member.
MDP made the decision due to the stalled no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed. The motion was submitted with 49 signatures but was first stalled after Deputy Speaker Eva filed for sick leave. The no-confidence motion was placed on the agenda again after the Supreme Court ruled that the Parliament can proceed with the motion in the absence of the deputy speaker.
As such, Parliamentarian Hassan Afeef presided over the sitting on November 12, as Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla was on sick leave. During the sitting, the Parliamentary Group (PG) Leader of The Democrats Ali Azim raised a point of order claiming that the motion was proposed in violation of the parliamentary regulations. After a heated debate, Parliamentarian Afeef accepted the point of order and concluded the sitting after rejecting the no-confidence motion.
A second sitting was held later in the day, with Deputy Speaker Eva presiding. She quickly concluded the sitting after refusing to proceed with the no-confidence motion, claiming that it has already been rejected during the first sitting.
MDP stated that the no-confidence motion was submitted in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations. The main ruling party highlighted that the Secretary General of the Parliament had also instructed not to reject the motion.
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Committee on Member’s Privileges and Ethics passed that Eva and Afeef had violated the privileges of the Parliament following their decisions not to hold the no-confidence vote. The committee also passed that a member of The Democrats, including Eva and Afeef, will not be allowed to preside over the sitting to hold the no-confidence vote against Speaker Nasheed.