PPM to intervene in MDP's SC petition on Nasheed ouster
MDP believes that the parliament’s SG had misinterpreted the relevant provisions.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
PPM-PNC has also decided to intervene in MDP's petition in the Supreme Court seeking to declare that the no-confidence motion against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed can be carried out even in the absence of the Deputy Speaker.
The impeachment motion was scheduled for Sunday but could not be continued as Deputy Speaker Eva Abdullah, who is supposed to preside over the session, was on leave.
However, the MDP says the rules allow parliamentary sessions to continue even in the absence of the Deputy Speaker. Therefore, the party is saying that the session should be held to remove the Speaker of Parliament.
Therefore, the MDP filed a constitutional case in the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking a determination that the sessions of the Parliament can be conducted according to that rule.
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The court accepted the case and scheduled the first hearing for Monday at 9:45 am
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The Democrats, to whom Nasheed belongs, announced on Wednesday that they would get involved in the case
The PPM's official X account posted on Thursday that the party will also intervene in the constitutional case filed in the Supreme Court.
“The PPM-PNC Parliamentary Group has decided to intervene in the constitutional motion filed in the Supreme Court regarding the no-confidence motion against the Speaker of the Parliament,” the PPM said in a post.
The MDP says the decision by the Secretary-General Niusha to only allow the Deputy Speaker of parliament to preside directly over the case is unconstitutional. It also said that the parliament’s SG had misinterpreted the relevant provisions.
In the petition to the Supreme Court, the MDP asked:
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To provide that the parliament secretariat shall be obliged to comply with Article 44 of the rules of procedure of the parliament in the event of the deputy speaker's absence from a sitting where the motion of no-confidence in the speaker is tabled
Article 44 of the rules of procedure of the parliament sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of the speaker and deputy speaker being excused from presiding over the session. Accordingly, the article states:
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In such a case, the speaker shall appoint a member to preside in accordance with Article 82(b) of the constitution
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A total of five members of the parliament who have served the longest continuous period of time shall be so appointed; One of the members shall preside for three consecutive sessions
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The five members are to be appointed within the first two weeks after the election of the speaker and deputy speaker to the post; the names should be announced in parliament
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In determining the order of those five members to hold the presidency, priority shall be based on tenure of membership; if the term of membership is equal, then the age of the members shall be considered
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Hassan Afeef of Vilufushi constituency, Ahmed Siyam Mohamed from Meedhoo constituency, Mohamed Aslam from Hithadhoo North constituency, Ibrahim Shareef from Maradhoo constituency and Gasim Ibrahim from Maamigili constituency are the five members who can preside
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In the event that no member is appointed in advance to preside or if the five members are unable to preside, the next longest serving member shall preside at the meeting.
