The Parliamentary Group (PG) of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the main ruling party in the Maldives, has announced that Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has no plans to step down from his position despite facing a vote of no-confidence.
During a press conference, PG Leader Mohamed Aslam stated that the deadlock in Parliament could be resolved if both the speaker and deputy speaker resign from their positions. He expressed concern over the lack of progress on the parliamentary agenda during the recent extraordinary sitting and criticized the Parliament Secretariat for suspending parliamentary work without taking into account the concerns and opinions of the members. Aslam further revealed that a motion has been submitted to convene another extraordinary sitting.
Furthermore, Majority Leader Aslam claimed that the speaker does not support the efforts of the MDP PG to continue parliamentary work in accordance with regulations. He argued that the best course of action would be for both the speaker and deputy speaker to resign due to the loss of confidence, allowing the Parliament to move forward with its work.
The extraordinary sitting held on July 3 was called after the MDP PG submitted a motion to address pending crucial matters. The agenda included the re-formation of standing committees; however, the sitting concluded without making a decision on this issue.
The MDP has expressed concerns over the Parliament going into recess before deliberating on important matters such as committee re-formations. The decision to re-form the committees became necessary following the resignation of 12 members from the MDP. Since then, the Parliament has been deadlocked, with critical matters, including no-confidence motions against the speaker and deputy speaker, being stalled. These motions require the General Purpose Committee to allocate time for debates.
The fate of Speaker Nasheed’s position and the resolution of the ongoing deadlock in the Parliament remain uncertain as political tensions continue to escalate within the Maldivian political landscape.
