Democrats: Nasheed being dismissed to prevent exposure of MDP’s corruption

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is attempting to dismiss Mohamed Nasheed as speaker because the Democrats will expose the acts of corruption carried out by the party, says Democrats’ interim chairperson Hassan Latheef.

Speaking at a rally on Thursday night, Hassan Latheef said he is hearing MDP make various claims regarding the no-confidence motion against Nasheed.

He said that further thought into the claims show the extent of MDP’s corruption.

He alleged that the MDP was attempting to dismiss Nasheed as speaker because they realize Democrats would be the only party to investigate the corruption.

“Democrats is the only party at the Parliament working to investigate this. They are doing this deliberately, to prevent Speaker Nasheed from remaining in that position and investigating and exposing it,” he said.

“They are trying to oust Speaker Nasheed because he will expose MDP’s corruption. That is the main reason.”

Hassan Latheef said that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is already investigating multiple corruption cases against the MDP. He said that case of Fenaka Corporation’s debt is just one small example.

He also hit back at President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for his comment on Wednesday that MDP lawmakers never trusted Nasheed.

President Solih said that the MDP had to table its earlier no-confidence motion against Nasheed “because of the circumstances at the time.”

He said that he himself did not want to make a move that could create turmoil in the middle of the presidential election.

He said the move had been “temporary.”

Hassan Latheef described the remarks as evidence of President Solih’s “betrayal.”

“So, I find the decision the Maldivian people not to stick with President Solih for the next five years as the best decision the people made in recent history,” he said.

The MDP had originally submitted no-confidence motions against both Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla earlier this year. The motion against Eva was submitted with the endorsement on 50 MPs in May, and the motion against Nasheed followed, with the endorsement of 54 MPs, in June.

But the MDP withdrew the motions in September, while the party was engaged in negotiations with the Democrats – the party to which both Nasheed and Eva belong – for the presidential runoff election.

The recent motion against Nasheed was submitted with the endorsement of 49 MPs on October 9.

It will be heard at the Parliament on Sunday.

The MDP parliamentary group convened for a meeting on Wednesday, during which they passed a three-line whip to vote in favor of the motion.

The vote was unanimous.

However, Democrats say that Eva is ill, raising questions as to whether Sunday’s sitting can be held.