Do not have to cooperate in activities conducted outside the legal frame: Nasheed

Kulhudhuffushi-South MP Mohamed Nasheed has said that refusing to cooperate in activities conducted outside the legal frame would not result in any legal ramifications.

In an article published on his blog, Nasheed said that while it is evident that the Parliament Committee on Oversight of the Government’s investigation of the report of the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) is against parliament regulations, no action has been taken against this by the Parliament Speaker.

He said that the Attorney General had brought to the attention of the Parliament Speaker that the Government Oversight Committee was acting against parliament regulations, but the Speaker Shahid has yet to respond to this. He said that therefore, if the parliament committee is acting against the parliament regulations regarding the CoNI case investigation, the government has the right to not to answer to the committee.

“Because it is evident that the parliament regulation is being violated, and the parliament speaker has failed to work towards rectifying the matter while the Attorney General had requested that the issue be addressed, and because the parliament speaker has continued to neglect the matter, it is the prerogative of the government to refuse to show support for this work done by the committee which is beyond parliament regulations,” wrote Nasheed.

He said that proceeding as such will not be considered as undermining the parliament or trampling its privileges, and that the government would not be acting against the constitution by refusing to attend the committee meetings to share information regarding the CoNI report.

“It would only be considered as undermining the parliament or trampling on its privileges or acting against the constitution if the government does not support the committee in valid activities pursued under the parliament and committee regulations, or if it fails to respond to an order which is made in a rightful manner,” said Nasheed.

He said that he has no problems regarding the Government Oversight Committee or the work they do. He also said that he has no problems with the members of the committee, or the MDP members that sit in the committee. The only problem, he said, is that the Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid has chosen to hide behind a curtain and pretends to act in ignorance.

“I don’t think the committee chair is the problem, nor the MDP members in the committee. I believe that they too will work for something that will benefit them politically. The problem is the parliament speaker. He has ridiculed the regulation, is pretending to act in ignorance, is hiding behind a curtain and playing this game completely from a political standpoint. This is hard for me to believe,” Nasheed said.