Meekail slams Saleem for degrading AG Office’s female staff

South Galolhu MP Meekail Naseem has slammed Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem for targeting derogatory remarks toward female staff of the Attorney General’s Office (AG Office).

Opposition lawmakers stalled the presentation of the no-confidence motion against Attorney General (AG) Riffath Ibrahim on the agenda of Monday’s parliamentary sitting. Many of the opposition lawmakers raised point of orders to question AG Riffath on why he failed to appear before the parliament last week.

In the midst of this chaos, MP Saleem raised a point of order in which he expressed his suspicions that the two female aides sitting beside AG Riffath were minors.

“I am raising this point of order because I suspect the two aides sitting beside the Attorney General are minors below the age of 18. I wish to clarify this from the speaker,” he said.

Angered over the remarks, MP Meekail raised a point of order, condemning derogatory speech towards female government officials appearing before the parliament.

Affirming support to MP Meekail’s condemnation – Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed who was presiding over the sitting advised Saleem against using such terms in his speech.

“I especially urge all members against using derogatory remarks towards young women,” he added.

Opposition lawmakers, at Monday’s sitting, stalled the presentation of AG Riffath’s no-confidence motion. The opposition lawmakers who raised point of orders in this regard questioned why AG Riffath appeared before the parliament today after sending in a written response on Wednesday, when the motion was first slated on the agenda. They also underscored the importance of seeking an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court regarding the matter.

In a letter to Speaker Nasheed, AG Riffath explained why responded in writing. He said he responded initially responded in writing for the purpose of conveying a detailed response as many have made statements on the matter in a manner that misleads the public while the matter contains a lot of legalities.

The no-confidence motion was filed by an opposition alliance which comprises of the opposition PPM-PNC coalition, ‘The Democrats’, headed by Nasheed, and Maldives National Party – citing negligence in advocating for Maldives’ best interests in the border dispute between Maldives and Mauritius at International Tribunal for the Law of the Seas (ITLOS). 

Pro-government lawmakers have accused of opposition lawmakers of deliberately stalling the no-confidence motion as they do not have enough votes to succeed in passing the motion.