Dhiyana presses charges against Speaker Shahid regarding change of government

Former Attorney General Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed has filed a case against the Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid in Civil Court stating that the change of power from former president Nasheed’s government to the present government in February last year was illegitimate and that the vacancy in presidency was determined by the Speaker.

Dhiyana Saeed told Sun today she filed the case in Civil Court last week and that the court has notified her that the case has been accepted today.

Dhiyana said that she has raised the case against Speaker Abdulla Shahid because the constitution bestows a legal obligation upon the Speaker of the Parliament to determine the vacancy of the Presidency.

“Article 121 of the Constitution states that the President may resign if he so wishes, by writing to the Speaker of the Parliament. If so, the Constitution requires the Speaker of the Parliament to determine that seat has become vacant. The Speaker of the Parliament has been accused because, even if it was by a misunderstanding, even if the Speaker of the Parliament was unaware that the president resigned under duress, the person who determined that the seat was vacant was the Speaker of the Parliament. This does not necessarily mean that the Speaker of the Parliament has committed a crime, or that he was party to what happened or that he has willfully done something to deceive the people,” Dhiyana said.

Dhiyana has asked the Civil Court do determine that the people have been deprived of the right to vote, that former president Nasheed had resigned under duress, and that the change of power was illegitimate.

Dhiyana previously filed a case in High Court saying that the former President resigned under duress. The Court had however refused to accept the case. The case filed in High Court did not have the infringement of civil rights component included in her current case at the Civil Court.

Dhiyana has also published a report titled “The Silent Inquiry”, which also alleges that the former President had resigned under duress.

The letter of resignation signed by former president Mohamed Nasheed to the Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid on the 7th of February last year states that “reflecting on the present state of Maldives, as I believe that Maldives and the people of Maldives may face grave damages if I continue to remain as the president of the Maldives any longer, I now resign from the post of the President of the Maldives.”

Speaker of the Parliament Abdulla Shahid was a member of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) when former President Nasheed resigned. He has however recently joined the former president’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).