MDP denies efforts to impeach President Muizzu

The Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group (PG) has said that it has no intention of moving the impeachment of President Mohammed Muizzu.

Parliament passed an amendment to the Rules of Procedure of Parliament on 18th of this month to allow the President or Deputy Speaker to be removed by the vote of the opposition MDP members alone.

Before the vote, PPM MP Ahmed Thorig indicated that the MDP members would join the government if Muizzu was removed from office. The 13 MPs who joined the PNC on Thursday night said they had left the MDP because they were trying to remove President Muizzu from office.

The MDP PG held a press conference at the Parliament on Saturday. The Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Hoarafushi Constituency Member Ahmed Saleem said that it was not done in any official capacity.

"It can be done within the law. However, we have not had any discussions so far. It is not an official stand," Saleem said.

He said the most commonly heard talk of a no-confidence motion against the President is from people associated with the government, who believe that the government is pursuing policies that undermine the trust of the people.

Some MDP members have made such statements in the Parliament, but they are not the party’s decision on the matter. Some of the MPs who have called for the removal of the President are among the 13 MPs who recently signed up for the PNC, he said.

"However, I can say with certainty that the MDP's PG has no stand on the matter. We have not agendaed it and discussed it so far. We have not received any such instruction from the party”, Saleem explained.

President Muizzu also accused the MDP of moving to remove him from office at the PNC rally held on Thursday night. The President said there were still MDP members in parliament who would not vote against him even if their fingers were cut off.

The MDP's PG said no MPs would vote against a decision taken by the MDP. The MDP's PG said the President's remarks were political.