Aslam says will get pres' Chagos letter via parliamentary committee
The opposition has been criticising the government and calling for the publication of the letter.
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Ruling MDP said on Tuesday that it will request the President's Office through the parliament's security services committee to share a copy of the letter President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih sent to Mauritius prime minister recognising Mauritius' sovereignty over Chagos.
MDP's parliamentary group leader Mohamed Aslam made the remarks at a press conference held on Tuesday at the parliament secretariat to announce that the party's parliamentary group has approved a motion to file a no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.
Replying to questions from the media, Aslam reiterated the problems being faced due to the change in composition of the parliament and the fact that the standing committees of the parliament are yet to be reconstituted.
Aslam said a lot of important, sensitive bills and issues were already pending in parliamentary committees because of the delay in reconstituting committees due to differences among the parties.
"In particular, I can say about the 241 committee [committee on security services] that I have been chairing. I haven't been able to take a real decision on obtaining a copy of the president's letter because the committee is yet to be reconstituted," he said.
The opposition has been demanding the president's letter be made public even before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas (ITLOS) issued its judgement on April 28 on the delimitation of the territorial waters between the Maldives and Chagos. However, this is the first time MDP has said it will demand the disclosure of the president's letter.
The opposition has been criticising the government and calling for the publication of the letter, accusing it of influencing the ITLOS decision.
While ITLOS’s ruling mentioned communications between President Solih and the Mauritian prime minister, the letter had no bearing on the outcome.
Earlier this month, the opposition coalition had moved an emergency motion in parliament demanding the release of the letter. However, the motion was dismissed.
