Democrats protest to block Nasheed motion; sitting ends in scuffles

The Democrats began protesting in the parliament to prevent the impeachment resolution of the speaker from being passed. The sitting was adjourned three times before the deputy speaker presiding over Mondays’ session, Eva Abdulla declared the sitting over on grounds of ‘violence’ on the parliament floor.

At 11 a.m. on Monday, the issue of the Nasheed resolution was on the agenda. The first to protest in th session were MDP members. Deputy speaker Eva Abdulla had adjourned the sitting twice by then, saying the motion had been annulled.

When the sitting began for the third time, the protesters were The Democrats.

The Democrats' interim chairman, Henveiru West MP Hassan Latheef, said the resolution could be re-tabled only after it was resubmitted as it was rejected by the parliament chair on Sunday.

"If the chair decides, then the Secretary General [Fathimath Niusha] should act accordingly in that case. If she doesn't do that, then what the Secretary General is doing is getting involved in the political debate," he said.

Meanwhile, other Democrats began protesting at the chair table. Among them, the name of Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb was called out. However, Ilyas did not leave the floor.

MDP’s Kendhikulhudhoo MP Ahmed Esa got up from his seat and tried to physically force Ilyas out of the parliament.

With that, Eva adjourned the sitting. And then, when the sitting began about 30 minutes later, Democrats were still protesting. So, Eva called out the names of the members.

Afterwards, Eva announced that the sitting had expired, saying it was 2:30 pm. She said she will also agenda the budget motion and Nasheed's resolution for Tuesday’s sitting.