Nasheed's confidence motion should precede budget, MDP says
The Parliament said on Monday that the case was agendaed for Wednesday, as Eva will be on leave on Tuesday as well.
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By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
The no-confidence motion against the Speaker of Parliament should be scheduled before the budget for next year is submitted to Parliament, MDP Parliamentary Group Leader Mohammed Aslam said on Monday.
The last two days, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Eva Abdulla, was ‘unwell’, and so Nasheed’s vote of no-confidence had not progressed. The matter is now on the agenda for Wednesday's session.
Tuesday’s session will be about:
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Submission of supplementary budget
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Presentation of next year's budget
"We don't believe that can be done. Nasheed's case should be scheduled before the budget is presented. That is our stand," Aslam, who is also the Member of Parliament for Hithadhoo North, told Atoll Times.
Aslam said the party's stand is that no other work of parliament should be done without taking a decision on Nasheed's case. Therefore, a decision should be taken on Nasheed's case before the budget is presented, he said.
“The party's stand is not to decide on anything else before Nasheed's case and not to cooperate with anything in parliament,” Aslam said.
A meeting of the MDP parliamentary group will be held to decide how to proceed further, he said. He said he would also ask the parliament to agenda the case on Tuesday.
MDP believes that no further work can be done in the Parliament without deciding Nasheed's case, based on Article 205(d) of the Parliament Rules. The article says:
After a motion of no confidence in the Speaker of Parliament has been moved, any other matter moved in Parliament at that time can be debated or decided only after the motion is taken.
The presentation of the budget for next year was scheduled for Tuesday. According to the rules of procedure, the Finance Minister must present the budget for the coming year before November 1 of the current year. Tuesday is the last day of October for the parliament.
Nasheed's case was postponed to Wednesday and was on the agenda on Monday and Sunday. However, the two sessions were not held as:
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The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Eva Abdullah, who is to preside over the session on Nasheed’s case, is absent
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According to the rules of the Parliament, the Deputy Speaker is required to preside over the no-confidence motion directly
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In the absence of the Deputy Speaker, the Rules of Procedure do not specify what to do next; Therefore, the decision of the Secretary-General Fathimath Niusha was that no one other than Eva could preside over the session
The Parliament said on Monday that the case was agendaed for Wednesday, as Eva will be on leave on Tuesday as well.
The MDP has filed a petition in the Supreme Court rejecting the decision of the Secretary-General that no one other than Eva can preside over the session.
The court on Monday heard the case and the party asked the court to rule that no further session can be held without deciding the case.
