Niusha appeals to Nasheed to arrange for proceeding with Eva’s stalled no-confidence motion

Parliament’s Secretary General Fathimath Niusha, on Tuesday, appealed to Speaker Mohamed Nasheed on arranging to proceed with the no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker, North Galolhu MP Eva Abdulla, which is presently stalled, within the parliament’s order.

Although Eva’s no-confidence motion was scheduled for Tuesday’s sitting, two days after the 14 day notice given to the deputy speaker had expired. The absence of the motion on agenda for Monday’s sitting sparked concern from pro-government MPs. Despite the motion being on Tuesday’s agenda, the sitting ended prematurely as there was no MP assigned with the task of presiding. Parliamentary regulations dictate that the Speaker must appoint an MP to preside over sittings if both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are unavailable.

Opening the session, Parliament’s secretary-general Fathimath Niusha said the Speaker Nasheed must preside as there was a no-confidence motion against Eva. However, Nasheed sent a letter on Monday recusing himself from sittings until a decision is made regarding the motion against him.

This has raised questions as to how to resolve the deadlock faced within the parliament.

Secretary General Niusha, in a letter to Nasheed on Tuesday, proposed three possible solutions in light of the parliament’s regulations.

The first solution proposed by Niusah was to table the issue of reconstituting the standing committees for the next sitting which will expedite the work of General Purposes Committee which determines the number of MPs and time allocated for the debate on no-confidence motions. The parliament’s standing committees required to be reconstituted following changes to the parliament’s composition prompted by the resignation of 13 lawmakers belonging to MDP from the party.

The re-constitution of the standing committee being delayed has been one of the biggest hurdles posed in moving forward with the no-confidence motion. Disagreements between political parties have been the reason behind delays in reconstituting the standing committees.

Niusha, in her letter, stressed the stalled works of General Purposes Committee was not an acceptable reason not to table Eva’s no-confidence motion.

Therewith, she urged to table the reconstituting of the standing committees for the next sitting so that the parliament may take a decision on the matter in light of the disagreements among political parties.

Niusha, as a second solution, proposed to appoint a member to chair the sitting that debates the no-confidence motion against Eva if Nasheed feels the need to be recused.

The third solution put forth was for the parliament to decide how to proceed with the debate in a general sitting.