Eva resigns from deputy speakership; calls victory
"Our member will never be deterred in the face of corruption; it is my victory to give that assurance for Galolhu North constituency".
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
Eva Abdulla resigned as deputy speaker of parliament on Sunday, saying her opposition to the government of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was a victory.
Eva resigned from her post after responding to a motion to remove her from office in parliament on Sunday.
After speaking for about 30 minutes, Eva announced her resignation.
After speaking in defence of herself and then announcing her resignation at the end of her speech, MDP MPs raised points of order and said that it could not be done like that. The party members wanted to vote to remove Eva.
However, speaker Mohamed Aslam, who presided over the session, decided to accept Eva's resignation letter and adjourn the sitting. Aslam also announced that a meeting would be held on Sunday evening to elect a new Deputy Speaker.
'Punished for opposing Solih government'
"There will be no member of parliament who will say that I am incompetent to be the Deputy Speaker of Parliament," she said. She said she had served as the deputy speaker of parliament for the past four years in accordance with the law and rules.
She said the impeachment of former speaker of parliament Mohamed Nasheed was in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment and the rules of parliament.
“For the sake of historical accuracy, I am saying now that I have not violated a Supreme Court ruling,” she said.
According to Eva, the main reason for her resignation was for standing up against an "incompetent, arrogant" government and calling it "incompetent and arrogant"
"The truth is, the government didn’t like me very much. And I was very unhappy with the government. So, this is the punishment I am given for speaking out against yesterday's MDP government," she said in her defence before announcing her resignation.
"This is yesterday's government, the MDP government, punishing me for losing power."
When she stood up against the government, she knew she would receive this punishment, but she did not want to compromise her principles for the sake of position, she said.
"Honourable Speaker. I will not be stuck in your personal and political go-around, God willing. I will not be stuck in the trap of theft. I will not be someone who shrouds democratic principles and rules to defend my own position [or] interest," she said.
With that, she said, different people will measure success and failure differently. Eva described this as an achievement for her.
"Our member will never be deterred in the face of corruption; it is my victory to give that assurance for Galolhu North constituency. It is my victory to for every leader who comes to know for sure that I will never be shaken with a tossed coin," she said.
"Self-respect is my achievement. Self-respect is an achievement I would never get. Thank you very much for the opportunity. You will receive my resignation letter shortly."
