MDP to withdraw Nasheed, Eva confidence motions

Ruling MDP's Parliamentary Group (PG) on Sunday decided to withdraw the no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla.

Speaker Nasheed informed MPs that he intends to hold the vote of no confidence against himself and deputy speaker Eva Abdulla in the parliament session on Monday. With this, Nasheed's no-confidence motion is now on the agenda for Monday’s parliament sitting.

Nasheed expressed his desire to continue the no-confidence motion, in a message sent to a WhatsApp group of MPs after Saturday's presidential election results.

At an emergency meeting held on Sunday evening, the MDP PG decided to withdraw the motions against Nasheed and Eva. PG Leader and President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's running mate Mohamed Aslam confirmed this to Atoll Times.

“It is because this has stalled the work of the parliament and the party MPs see fit to give the work of the parliament a chance instead of furthering this war,” Aslam said.

However, the parliament secretariat said on Sunday evening that the parliament has not yet been informed of the MDP PG's decision, and that even though Monday has been declared a public holiday, the sitting will continue as scheduled.

One of the reasons why the work of the parliament has come to a standstill in recent times is that the no-confidence motion against Nasheed and Eva. While the two motions were withdrawn by the MDP PG, the party's presidential candidate, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, went to the second round of the election on Saturday, second to opposition candidate Muizz by a margin of 15,000 votes. 

When asked whether MDP decided to withdraw the two motion because they needed Nasheed's support in the second round of the election, Aslam said that was not the reason.

"No, no. Not at all. President Nasheed's support will be important. But that is not why the case was brought back. Just because we want to continue the important work of the parliament," Aslam said.

The ruling MDP, which has a clear majority in parliament, first moved the no-confidence motion of deputy speaker Eva Abdulla. The no-confidence motion against Nasheed was filed later. Both the cases remained pending because standing committees had not been reconstituted after after the changes in the parliamentary composition. 

The timing of the debate on no-confidence motions is determined by the general committee.

Provisional results show main opposition PPM-PNC's Dr Mohamed Muizz leading the polls with 46%, while President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih secured 39%. 

The Democrats candidate, Ilyas Labeeb, who defected from MDP with Nasheed and formed the youngest political party in the country, got about 15,000 votes in Saturday’s polls. The support of Nasheed and The Democrats will be crucial for President Solih in the second round.

Current representation of political parties in parliament: