MDP seeks SC order over deadlock on Nasheed confidence motion
Parliament could not proceed with the no-confidence motion against speaker Mohamed Nasheed in Sunday's sitting as deputy speaker Eva Abdulla was on sick leave.
Ruling MDP on Sunday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court seeking a ruling that the suspension of parliament is unconstitutional.
Atoll Times has received a copy of the draft of the case prepared by the MDP. According to it, MDP accused speaker Mohamed Nasheed of abusing his authority to prevent his no-confidence motion from proceeding.
As a result, the country's rule of law is being disrupted and the public interests of the country are being undermined, the case said.
The MDP's request to the court is:
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to determine that the deadlock in parliament is contrary to Article 8 of the constitution
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To order the parliament to proceed with the no-confidence motion against the speaker in accordance with the constitution and the rules of procedure of the parliament
A senior MDP official told Atoll Times that the draft has now been finalised and the case will be filed mainly based on its contents.
Parliament could not proceed with the no-confidence motion against speaker Mohamed Nasheed in Sunday's sitting as deputy speaker Eva Abdulla was on sick leave.
According to the rules of procedure of the parliament, the deputy speaker is required to preside over the no-confidence motion against the speaker.
Before the beginning of Sunday's sitting, Secretary General Fathimath Niusha told MPs that Eva was asked to preside over Sunday's sitting as a vote of no confidence in the speaker should be presided over by the deputy speaker.
However, Eva informed the secretariat in writing that she was ill at 6:27am, she said.
The matter will be tabled again for Monday's sitting and the deputy speaker will be asked to preside over the sitting, Niusha said.
Eva has been on leave since Wednesday due to illness.
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 After the first round of the presidential election on September 9, the motion was withdrawn.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.
Meanwhile, the general committee of the parliament has decided to spend a total of two hours on the debate on the no-confidence motion.
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2 hours for the general debate
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Nasheed to be given three slots of 10 minutes each to respond
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To divide the remaining 1.5 hours according to the proportion of political parties and independent members
Article 205 of the rules of procedure describes the procedure for impeachment of the speaker:
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A motion of no confidence in the speaker of parliament may be moved by a resolution signed in writing by one-fourth of the total number of members of parliament or not less than 22 members
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Once the resolution is received by the assembly, it must give notice of the resolution within three days excluding public holidays; after giving a period of 14 days from the date of the notice, the resolution must be placed on the agenda at the earliest sitting of the parliament
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After the resolution is tabled, the other business of the parliament may proceed only after a decision is taken on the resolution; the sitting shall be presided over by the deputy speaker
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The speaker of parliament may be removed from office only if the resolution of removal is passed by a majority of the members present at the vote
Ruling MDP's parliamentary group on Wednesday issued a three-line whip to vote in favour of a no-confidence motion against parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed.
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