Almost 50 lawmakers have given their support to a no-confidence motion brought forward by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed. This marks the party’s second attempt to remove Nasheed from his position, who was once a leader of the MDP.
According to Mohamed Aslam, the parliamentary group leader of the MDP, they have already gathered 49 signatures, which is enough to pass the no-confidence motion against Nasheed. Additionally, there is a growing interest from lawmakers, including those from other political parties, to endorse this motion. Aslam has confirmed that the motion will be officially submitted to the Parliament on Monday, and he expressed optimism about the level of support they are receiving.
Aslam also emphasized the MDP’s desire to garner support from members of other political parties. He revealed that not all MDP MPs have been contacted yet, and lawmakers from different parties are also expressing their willingness to sign the motion.
Earlier on the same Sunday, Aslam revealed that MDP lawmakers had received threatening text messages from Nasheed, aimed at obstructing the motion against him. He criticized Nasheed for making excuses to avoid responsibilities, citing it as a major issue that has led to a lack of confidence in his leadership.
It’s worth noting that the MDP had initially submitted no-confidence motions against both Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla earlier in the year. The motion against Eva was submitted with the endorsement of 50 MPs in May, followed by the motion against Nasheed, which had the endorsement of 54 MPs in June. However, these motions were withdrawn by the MDP in September during negotiations with the Democrats, the party to which both Nasheed and Eva belong, for the presidential runoff election.
In a parliamentary group meeting held earlier on the same Sunday, the MDP decided to resubmit the no-confidence motion against Nasheed. Aslam reported that this decision was reached with the unanimous consensus of the attending MPs.
Following this decision, Nasheed expressed his belief that it would be “difficult” to process another no-confidence motion against him during the current session.It’s important to note that the MDP holds a majority in the 87-member Parliament with 56 MPs, and they require 43 votes to pass the motion successfully.
