Parliament erupts into disorder, disrupting sitting to hear Nasheed no-confidence motion

The second parliamentary sitting on Monday morning – where the Parliament was set to hear a no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed – has also been suspended.

Two sittings were scheduled for Monday. The first sitting, at 09:00 am - where the government was set to present the 2024 state budget and the 2023 supplementary budget – was suspended due to lack of quorum after MDP lawmakers – who hold a supermajority at the Parliament – refused to enter the chamber.

Eva said she would continue to ring the quorum bell and wait for the lawmakers.

At 10:00 am, Eva said she would wait another 45 minutes.

And at 10:45 am, Eva said that they had tried, but continued to face a lack of quorum.

She said that the Supreme Court ruling last Thursday urged the Parliament to continue its work and ensure the continuous functioning of the state.

“I believe its my responsibility to continue to try to see that the budget is presented to the Parliament in accordance with the Public Finance Act, the Constitution, and the Parliament’s Standing Orders,” she said.

Eva said she was discontinuing the sitting and would announce a time to re-adjourn it, later.

Opening the second sitting at 11:00 am, Eva announced that there were 60 lawmakers present at the chamber.

Several MDP lawmakers were protesting at the time, with Addu Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef standing beside Eva.

It wasn’t just the MDP lawmakers who were protesting, but also Democrats.

Eva said she was unable to continue the sitting due to the state of disorder.

“I suspend this sitting until order is restored. I will inform honorable MPs of a time the sitting will resume,” she said.

The no-confidence motion against Nasheed, which was initially tabled for October 26, had remained stymied after Eva, Nasheed’s cousin and fellow Democrats member, called in sick all through that week.

The Parliament’s Secretariat had decided that only the Deputy Speaker can chair sittings in the event of a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The MDP lodged a constitutional case with the Supreme Court, which last week found the Secretariat’s decision to halt the motion unconstitutional.

The motion was then re-scheduled to Sunday. But Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef, who chaired the sitting, rejected the motion and instructed the MDP to re-submit it, agreeing with members of his party Democrats that the it did not fit the standards for a motion.

The Parliament’s Secretariat refused to back the decision and rescheduled the motion for the afternoon. But Eva, who chaired the sitting, said she did not believe the motion could be processed given the presidency’s earlier dismissal of the case.

Following the decision, the MDP-led Privileges and Ethics Committee decided that both Eva and Afeef had violated the privileges afforded to lawmakers. It also recommended to the General Purposes Committee that Democrats members be barred from chairing sittings to process the no-confidence motion against Nasheed.

The General Purposes Committee sought counsel from Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath, who said that lawmakers who have conflict of interest in the matter cannot chair the sittings.