MDP expels MP Azim with year-long ban on rejoining party
He cannot contest in any party primaries or posts for a period of five years.
Ruling MDP's disciplinary committee on Tuesday decided to expel Central Henveiru MP Ali Azim from the party and barred him from rejoining the party for a year.
The move comes two days after Azim participated in an opposition-led press conference announcing a coalition against the government's stand in the delimitation of the waters between the Maldives and Chagos in the south. He is also among 15 MPs who signed a no-confidence motion against Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath.
MDP's disciplinary committee met Monday afternoon and again on Tuesday morning to look into Azim's conduct.
At Tuesday's meeting, the committee decided to:
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Expel him from MDP
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Bar him from rejoining the party for a year
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After the one-year period, he can only rejoin the party with the signatures of 100 new members to the party
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he cannot contest in any party primaries or posts for a period of five years
The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on April 28 sided with the Maldives in the dispute with Mauritius surrounding the delimitation of the maritime boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Maldives and the Chagos archipelago, awarding a bigger portion to the Maldives.
ITLOS noted that the size of the relevant area is calculated to be approximately 92,563 sqkm. The delimitation line allocates to Mauritius 45,331 sqkm and to the Maldives 47,232 sqkm.
