Nasheed resigns as Parliament’s Speaker

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed resigned from his position as Parliament Speaker on Monday, ending a monthlong battle between lawmakers from the Maldivian Democratic Party and Democrats – as the MDP sought to oust their former leader from his position as the head of the state legislative body.

The MDP submitted a no-confidence motion against Nasheed with the endorsement of 49 MPs on October 9.

The Parliament had been scheduled to hear the motion at 11:00 am on Monday, but lawmakers from both the MDP and Democrats disrupted the sitting. Democrats expressed concern over the delay in budget work, while MDP lawmakers demanded that Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla, Nasheed’s cousin and fellow Democrats member, step down from chairing the sitting.

Eva adjoined the sitting, citing a state of disorder.

But the Parliament’s Secretariat rescheduled the motion again for 04:00 pm. The sitting was chaired by Addu Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef – a lawmaker from MDP.

Shareef announced that Nasheed had sent a letter to the Parliament’s Secretary General Fathimath Niusha, informing of his resignation.

In the letter, Nasheed wrote that he was reigning following consideration of the impact the motion could have on the democratic process.

He accused MDP of threatening fundamental democratic principles.

The MDP had originally submitted no-confidence motions against both Nasheed and Eva earlier this year. The motion against Eva was submitted with the endorsement on 50 MPs in May, and the motion against Nasheed followed, with the endorsement of 54 MPs, in June.

But the MDP withdrew the motions in September, while the party was engaged in negotiations with the Democrats – the party to which both Nasheed and Eva belong – for the presidential runoff election.

The recent motion against Nasheed, which was initially tabled for October 26th, had remained stymied after Eva 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.

In his resignation letter, Nasheed wrote that the Supreme Court, in its judgement, had stated that the court cannot interfere in the affairs of the Parliament unless under exceptional circumstances, in order to prevent the court’s rulings from getting political.

“But I regret that the words and actions of the Supreme Court do not correspond in this instance,” he wrote.

Nasheed added that he also regrets the actions of the MDP, which holds a majority at the Parliament, describing it as “a great injustice to the Maldivian people.”

“I find that remaining the Parliament’s Speaker will continue to escalate the damage the majority party is doing to the Parliament. I therefore resign from by position as Parliament’s Speaker,” he wrote.

Nasheed said he hopes his resignation will pave the path for the “restoration of stability and integrity under the democratic system.”

The resignation is a U-turn from when Nasheed, shortly after the Supreme Court judgement, sent a text to the Parliament’s Whatsapp group saying that the court case had thwarted the motion for five days, and that he believes he can continue to stall it until after President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu takes office on November 17.

MDP has also submitted a no-confidence motion against Eva, after accusing her of thwarting the motion against Nasheed.