Aslam slams Nasheed's independent parliamentary group move

MDP’s parliamentary group leader Mohamed Aslam said on Wednesday that a separate Parliamentary Group (PG) cannot be formed within the party as it against the party's charter.

Lawmakers belonging to MDP president Mohamed Nasheed's faction held a separate PG meeting on Tuesday evening and started working separately from the party's official PG. The Nasheed faction is also planning to join hands with the Jumhooree Party (JP), which is part of the ruling coalition but is fielding its own candidate in the upcoming presidential election. 

Aslam told Atoll Times that everyone is free to hold a meeting, but he does not believe that a separate PG group can be formed within the party.

"For a parliamentary group, what happens officially will happen. For a party, it is in accordance with the norms laid down in the Political Parties Act. We were the people who advocated politics on the political party platform. Just saying any name and seeing it as a political platform does not get much recognition as far as the law is concerned," Aslam said, indirectly criticising Nasheed's Fikuregge Dhirun movement.

"You can't form a separate parliamentary group while you are in the party. It is against the charter of the party. There is no room for it."

Asked if he would take action against Nasheed's move to form a separate PG group, the Hithadhoo North MP said the PG leader does not have the power to take action in such a matter. It has to be done, he said, by the party's action committee.

Aslam, who has worked closely with Nasheed in the past, said the rules of the parliament clearly spell out how to become a parliamentary group and how the parliamentary groups of political parties work.

"It is shameful to do things outside the law and regulations, and doing something that is very unheard of. MPs should always be role models in upholding the law. The Speaker, in particular, has to take it for granted," Aslam said, taking a dig at Nasheed.

Aslam also criticised Nasheed's faction for planning to join hands with Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim's Jumhooree Party.

"It's not a story that has any weight. Parliament rules will not accept a joint parliamentary group. Since they are the ones who accept it, it is being done illegally," Aslam said.