MDP Files No-Confidence Motion Against Deputy Speaker Eva Again
Photo: People’s Majlis
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) officially lodged a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla, today, backed by the endorsement of 50 lawmakers.
Among the signatories, 49 belong to MDP, while Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed Abdulla, an independent, also lent support to the motion.
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The decision to submit the no-confidence motion was made after the MDP parliamentary group voted in favor this morning. The party had been collecting endorsements for the motion since the previous day.
Having gathered 22 signatures on Sunday, meeting the minimum requirement for submission, the MDP moved forward with the motion against Eva.
The motion accuses Eva of obstructing a previously submitted no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.
Initially scheduled for October 26th, the motion against Nasheed faced delays as Eva claimed sickness throughout that week. The Parliament’s Secretariat determined that only the Deputy Speaker could preside over sittings related to a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.
In response, the MDP took the matter to the Supreme Court, which declared the Secretariat’s decision unconstitutional last week. The motion was then rescheduled for Sunday.
During the sitting chaired by Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef, the motion was rejected. Afeef, supported by members of the Democratic Party, contended that the motion did not meet the necessary standards.
The Parliament’s Secretariat, disagreeing with this decision, rescheduled the motion for the afternoon. However, Eva, as the chair, expressed doubt about processing the motion in light of the presidency’s previous dismissal of the case.
Following this development, the MDP-led Privileges and Ethics Committee found both Eva and Afeef in violation of lawmakers’ privileges. The committee recommended to the General Purposes Committee that Democrats members be barred from chairing sittings to address the no-confidence motion against Nasheed.
The General Purposes Committee sought advice from Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath, who opined that lawmakers with a conflict of interest in the matter should not preside over the sittings.
