MDP PG refuses to endorse inauguration if Nasheed remains Speaker

Mohamed Aslam, the leader of MDP’s parliamentary group, said on Thursday that the party – which holds a supermajority at the Parliament – will not endorse President-elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s oath of office if the Parliament does not hold the vote of no-confidence against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed instructed by the Supreme Court, and he chairs the inauguration.

Earlier Thursday, the Supreme Court found the Parliament’s decision to halt the motion had been unlawful, and that the motion – even if it is stymied – should not deter Muizzu’s inauguration.

With the judgement, Nasheed now intends to continue to stall the motion until after Muizzu’s inauguration – which is slated for November 17.

Aslam told Sun that Nasheed should be ashamed to make such remarks.

Aslam said that Nasheed should not be holding on to his position through sheer force despite the clear lack of confidence in him, and that he cannot continue to hold the Parliament hostage.

“In the case of [former Speaker Abdulla] Maseeh, Nasheed himself said that he continued to chair the Parliament despite lack of any legal basis. But he is doing this himself today. He continues to refuse,” he said.

 Aslam said that none of MDP’s lawmakers will cooperate in any parliamentary work with Nasheed chairing sittings.

He said that it included endorsing Muizzu’s oath of office and his cabinet.

“We are saying in clear terms that we will not endorse the oath, if it is done with Nasheed chairing the sitting. Nor will we support anything done by the new administration after it takes office,” he said.

The MDP had originally submitted no-confidence motions against both Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla – Nasheed’s cousin and fellow Democrats member - 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. The motion was initially tabled for October 26, after the 14-day notice period. But Eva called in sick all through last week, thwarting the motion.

The MDP lodged a constitutional case with the Supreme Court over the issue on October 29.

This week, Eva recused herself from chairing sitting citing the case submitted to the Supreme Court. And the Parliament decided against tabling the motion until the court issues its judgement.

Following the Supreme Court judgement, the Parliament scheduled the motion for Sunday.