Parliament accepts motion alleging Nasheed of privilege breach

A motion was filed in parliament on Monday alleging speaker Mohamed Nasheed of breaching parliamentary privilege. 

The motion, submitted by MDP MP Ibrahim Shareef, was admitted for debate with 37 votes in favour, while 13 MPs voted against.

Shareef said that according to the rules of the parliament, the speaker should preside over the no-confidence motion against the deputy speaker. He said it was illegal for Nasheed to refuse to chair the sitting citing a similar no-confidence motion against him.

"To this day, the speaker of the parliament has refused to preside over the sitting and has breached the privileges of the parliament. He has violated the rules of procedure and the constitution," he said.

The no-confidence motion against deputy speaker Eva Abdulla has stalled after Nasheed recused himself from chairing sittings citing the no-confidence motion against him. However, the rules of procedure do not prevent him from chairing the parliament until the 14-day notice of his no-confidence motion expires.

Shareef described it as Nasheed "invading the rights" of the parliament.

"It is an act that infringes on the privileges of the parliament as a whole," he said.

Nasheed's view is that no-confidence motions cannot be filed simultaneously. However, the rules also do not say that two cases cannot be filed at the same time.