Parliament sitting on Nazim’s removal scheduled for Sunday

A sitting of the People's Majlis to decide on the removal of Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim is scheduled to take place next Sunday, according to information obtained by Dhauru.

The no-confidence motion against Nazim was approved by the parliamentary group of the ruling People's National Congress during a meeting held on 13 May.

A resolution seeking his removal from office was formally submitted to parliament on 14 May with signatures from 73 PNC members.

Following the submission, Nazim was issued a 14-day notice in accordance with parliamentary standing orders.

Last week, the General Purpose Committee allocated a total of one hour for debate on the matter, including 10 minutes for Nazim to respond to the allegations and 50 minutes for contributions from members.

According to parliamentary regulations, a sitting to decide on the resolution must be held on the first official working day after the expiry of the notice period.

The 14-day notice issued to Nazim is set to expire tomorrow, making Sunday the earliest working day for the sitting.

To facilitate the vote, the current parliamentary session, which had originally been scheduled to conclude on 14 May, has been extended until the end of the month.

A letter circulated to members by the Parliament Secretariat before the end of last week confirmed that the agenda for Sunday’s sitting would focus on the motion concerning Nazim’s removal.

Under parliamentary rules, the resolution will pass if approved by a majority of members present and voting. The sitting must be chaired by Abdul Raheem Abdulla.

Excluding Speaker Abdul Raheem and Nazim himself, the PNC parliamentary group currently holds 72 seats in parliament.

PNC members have also reportedly been instructed to remain in Malé ahead of the sitting.

Nazim departed for Malaysia on the day the resolution was submitted. It remains unclear whether he will return to attend the debate and respond to the allegations.

Meanwhile, President Mohamed Muizzu is currently in Singapore on an unofficial visit.

The resolution submitted by the PNC alleges that Nazim repeatedly acted in ways that created discord within parliament and demonstrated political bias in parliamentary proceedings.

The motion further accuses him of:

Before the PNC parliamentary group decided to pursue his removal, President Muizzu removed Nazim from a WhatsApp group used by the President to communicate with MPs. The President is the sole administrator of the group.

Nazim is related to President Muizzu on his mother’s side.