Impeachment

Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has called the work by the parliament to remove him from office a “constitutional coup”.

Dr Jameel, who is presently in London, told The New Indian Express over the phone, “This is a constitutional coup in the guise of constitutional reforms.”

This comes after the parliament passed an amendment bill to the Constitution on 24 June 2015, to bring down the minimum age for qualification as President and Vice President from 35 to 30. Members of the ruling party, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), have said that their aim is to install Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb - who is below 35 - as Vice President before Independence Day, 26 July 2015.

Dr Jameel also told The New Indian Express that “friends of Maldives should step in”.

“There is a complete disregard for parliamentary procedure just to get the tourism minister (Ahmed Adeeb) after me,” he said.

He accused those behind this process of being driven by “personal vengeance”.

Dr Jameel also issued a statement yesterday, in which he said that there are no constitutional grounds for taking a vote of no-confidence against him. He criticised the efforts to make amendments to the Constitution for personal gains, and called the actions of those behind this “selfish and greedy”.