Nasheed’s no-confidence motion scheduled for next Sunday

Parliament has scheduled the no-confidence motion submitted against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed for next Sunday.

In a letter to members of the parliament, Parliament’s Secretary General Fathimath Niusha said the motion has been scheduled for Sunday, October 29^th.

Last week, Parliament’s General Committee decided to give Nasheed 30 minutes to respond during the debate of the no-confidence motion.

Notice regarding the no-confidence motion, submitted with the signatures of 49 parliamentarians from the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has been sent to Nasheed and the members of the parliament.

In the midst of preparations to file the second no-confidence motion, Nasheed said it would be difficult to accept the new motion in light of the withdrawal of the first no-confidence motion submitted against him in the last session. According to Nasheed, only one no-confidence motion can be accepted per session.

However, MDP’s Parliamentary Group (PG) leader Mohamed Aslam, refuting the remarks, said Nasheed cannot claim this, adding it is the Secretary-General who will make a decision on the motion. He expressed confidence in the Secretary-General to make the right decision.

The no-confidence motion initially submitted last June with the signatures of 56 MPs was withdrawn by MDP.

Last session, no-confidence motions against Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla were submitted simultaneously which brought the Parliament to a deadlock. As a result, the parliament broke for recess without completing many impending works. 

Aslam said the no-confidence motions were withdrawn because it was being leveraged as an argument to halt parliament, and especially as important matters were pending in the parliament. 

There are currently 56 MDP MPs in parliament. For a no-confidence motion against the Speaker of Parliament to be passed, requires 43 MPs' votes.