Nasheed's 'drama' continues; another upheaval on the horizon?

The parliamentary group of the super majority party, the MDP, dropped a direct political bomb on Wednesday as the vote of confidence in the Speaker of Parliament was scheduled for Sunday. MDP parliamentary group leader, Hithadhoo North MP Mohammed Aslam told reporters on Wednesday that the MDP would not accept the President-elect Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s oath of office as valid without them being allowed to take a vote of no-confidence in speaker Mohamed Nasheed. They took it a step further and said that they would reject the president-elect’s cabinet as well.

The MDP's decision was described by some as "emotional" but there are factors that support it in the rules of parliament. According to the rules of procedure, the no-confidence motion against the speaker and deputy speaker of parliament should precede all other parliamentary work. Therefore, there is a possibility that the sitting to swear in the new president may not be held as planned.

The no-confidence motion signed by 49 MDP MPs is scheduled for Sunday's sitting. The MDP parliamentary group members are not going to allow any work to progress in parliament if the vote is not taken. The majority of MDP in parliament gives the party the power to indeed bring the party to a deadlock.

According to the constitution, the president-elect will be sworn in at a formal sitting of parliament. The rules of procedure of the parliament do not allow for another sitting of the parliament without deciding the no-confidence motion against the speaker. Therefore, if the vote is not conducted before November 17, the swearing-in ceremony has shadows looming over it.

With the decisions of the MDP parliamentary group, ordinary members and activists of the PPM-PNC took to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the decision of the MDP.

Some have said that the MDP's decision was taken to mock the incoming new government. Some also described the decision as "heartbroken" following the MDP's defeat in the election.

"How sick to fall to this level," a person wrote on social media.

Another wrote, "This is the extent to which people will go in pursuit of power”.

Some lawyers have also criticised the MDP parliamentary group’s decision. They believe that the party should not be allowed to hold the whole state back to serve their own purpose.

Former Prosecutor General Muhthaz Muhsin, who supports President-elect Muizzu, said it was not right to stop the entire state when certain politicians did not achieve what they wanted. He believes that the Constitution and laws do not allow for this.

"This state cannot be stopped on condition of specific things that a particular political group wants. You can't even allow it to operate through that route. We need to be politically meaningful," Muhthaz Muhsin wrote in a post on X.

Former Attorney General Azima Shukoor said the MDP was in a "losing battle".

"Would that mean that Nasheed and [Deputy Speaker of Parliament] Eva Abdulla will be sacked? Can the government be brought to a standstill? It's going to be a battle to lose in the first place. The quality of this government's legal team is reflected in such confrontational activities," Azima wrote in her post.

However, former Attorney General Diyana Saeed, who campaigned for incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the September presidential election, responded to Azima's remarks.

She supported the MDP parliamentary group decision and said the parliament would not be able to hold a session if the no-confidence motion remained pending after the expiry of the notice.

“After the no confidence motion against the Speaker is due to be tabled in the Parliament, the Speaker has no authority to run the Parliament until a decision is taken on the resolution,” she wrote in response to Azima’s post.

Article 205 of the rules of procedure describes the procedure for impeachment of the speaker: 

The MDP on Wednesday called on Nasheed not to try to "forcefully retain his position" and to proceed with the motion as per the rules.

At a ceremony attended by Nasheed on Wednesday, he made a joke about the no-confidence motion. However, Nasheed has not yet said that he will not allow the vote to be taken.

Some people have expressed dissatisfaction with the decision taken by the MDP parliamentary group before the situation arose. The MDP has threatened to stop the entire parliament during this political drama. However, the MDP may be trying to prevent another riot Nasheed may plan to avoid the vote.

However, there are fewer squares for Nasheed to step onto this time.  

Meanwhile, the general committee of the parliament has decided to spend a total of two hours on the debate on the no-confidence motion. 

The ruling MDP first moved to remove Nasheed from the post of speaker of parliament last June. After the first round of the presidential election on September 9, the motion was withdrawn.

After the failure in the second round on September 30, the MDP's parliamentary group unanimously approved a second motion of no-confidence against Nasheed. The motion was signed by 49 MDP MPs and submitted on October 9.

The parliament accepted the motion and served the required 14-day notice on October 12.