Parliament asks PG Shameem to respond to dismissal motion

The Judiciary Committee of parliament has decided to give five days' notice to Prosecutor General (PG) Hussain Shameem to respond to the motion to remove him from office.

The committee met on Tuesday and approved the motion by PNC Member for Hulhudhoo Mohamed Shahid. Thus:

According to the rules of the Parliament, the Speaker’s panel must announce it in a session of the Parliament before such a matter can be considered.

At Wednesday's committee meeting, Shahid moved that Shameem be produced before the committee to give him an opportunity to answer to the matter. The motion, supported by PNC Member for North Feydhoo Constituency Ismail Nizar, passed unanimously.

“Once the motion is passed, we will give a five-day notice on Wednesday as per the rules,” said committee chairman Husnee Mubarik, MP for Manadhoo constituency.

Speaking after the vote, MDP Parliamentary Group Leader, Hithadhoo North Constituency Member Ibrahim Nazil said Shameem had been "disgraced" in the case. He noted that these are very serious allegations from a religious point of view.

"Therefore, the Prosecutor General's visit and providing accurate and clear information and the principles and standards he followed in his work will become clear to us and the people of Maldives. Therefore, we voted in favour of this," Nazil said.

In addition, he requested that the committee meeting be held in an open session.

Supporting this, Kendhoo MDP MP Mauroof Zakir asked Shameem to be given adequate time to respond.

Committee chair Husnee Mubarik then said: 

The MDP's super-majority 19th parliament approved Shameem's appointment in December 2019 with 74 votes. Shameem's term in office is three months away from expiry.