Ilyas: Deputy Speaker, other parliamentarians being targeted for attacks

Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb said on Monday that Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla and several other members of the Parliament are at risk for possible attacks. 

Ilyas had been the one who warned Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi of an assassination plot against Parliament Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed prior to the attempt on his life on May 6. 

Mariya had rejected the warning stating it wasn’t “credible, actionable intelligence”, and the police later said they do not believe the information received by Ilyas and the May 6 attack are related. 

The Parliament reopened for its third session of the year on Monday morning with Nasheed absent. Nasheed, who remains in the UK to treat injuries he sustained in the attack, has sent a letter requesting for an extension to his leave. 

Speaking at the Parliament on Monday, Ilyas said that authorities need to ascertain the right to life of all people in Maldives. 

He said that Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla, along with a number of other parliamentarians, are being targeted for attacks. 

“We continue to see that the Parliament’s Deputy Speaker and many more honorable parliamentarians face a number of threats. It is suspected that they are being spied on, that their whereabouts are being checked, and they are being targeted for attacks,” he said. 

Ilyas said authorities need to identify the people who plan and execute such attacks and bring them to justice, and that the Maldivian people would not have any peace until it gets done. 

He said that authorities need to especially focus on violent extremists who are derailing Maldives, creating a ‘dark state’, calling for the slaughter of people, and creating fear within the community.