Petition to Majlis demands declaration to deny legitimacy of government

A petition, allegedly signed by 30,000 members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), demanding a declaration to deny the government of Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik has been submitted to the People’s Majlis.

The petition also demanded the People’s Majlis to “look into” how the government of MDP leader Mahomet Nasheed fell from power on the 7th of February 2012.

MDP’s petition was taken to the Majlis this evening by a crowd of MDP activists and protesters. When the protesters reached the Majlis building, Members of Parliament from the party took the petition documents into the Majlis.

The petition claims that the government of Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik is “a government formed upon a rebellion against the constitution and the laws”. It also claims that the Maldivian government changed on the 7th of February in a coup d’état, and that those who brought it must be brought before the law.

MDP’s petition demanded the People’s Majlis to declare its denial of Dr. Waheed’s government and conduct a presidential election as soon as possible.

Speaker of Petition Committee and MP Mohammed Nasheed spoke to reporters at the scene, immediately after the petition documents were taken into the Majlis building. He said that the Committee would sit on Sunday to review the matter.

Nasheed also said that the Committee would come to know whom to speak to after its review, and that the Committee “would not leave a single stone unturned” in its enquiry into the issue.