Government refutes Ali Azim

The government has refuted Medhu-henveiru MP Ali Azim’s allegations that the President contacted him by phone about the Parliament voting on establishing secret ballots for no-confidence motions against the President and Cabinet members.

Cabinet Secretary Dr Abdullah Nazeer said via a text message to Sun Media Group today, that the President did not contact Ali Azim by phone.

Government Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza also said that he never talks to Ali Azim on the phone, and that Azim’s allegations against the President are not true.

He highlighted that Azim had tried to spread lies about President Waheed on a previous occasion as well.

“I don’t believe that the President would call Azim. He wouldn’t do that, because he wouldn’t do anything against protocols. No such communication could have taken place last night. The case in progress in Court against Azim has nothing to do with the vote. That’s about large sums of money that belongs to Maldivian citizens. If Mustafa lost his parliamentary seat, so should Azim,” Abbas said.

Speaking at the Parliament today, Azim said that he was contacted by President Waheed, the President's Political Advisor Ahmed Thaufeeg as well as Government Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza.

Regarding the Parliament voting today, Abbas said that it would not be a problem if secret ballots are established for no-confidence motions against the President.

“I have said to the media before as well, it requires 52 votes to pass the no-confidence motion against the President at the Parliament. It’s not likely that that many people will vote against the President,” Abbas said.

The Court had summoned Azim and Alifushi MP Mohamed Nashiz at 1:30pm today, which was later cancelled.