The parliament secretariat has accepted a no-confidence motion filed by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to remove former President Mohamed Nasheed as Speaker of Parliament and notified MPs on Thursday.
According to parliament’s rules, if a no-confidence motion is submitted against the Speaker or Deputy Speaker, the Secretary General must send the motion to the Speaker and MPs within three days.
A previous motion filed by the MDP to impeach Nasheed was withdrawn after the first round of the presidential election.
After the second motion was submitted, Nasheed at first indicated that it would be difficult to accept because of the withdrawal of the first motion.
The impeachment motion was submitted this time with the signature of 49 MPs.
In a message sent to parliament’s WhatsApp group, Nasheed said he believed the no-confidence motion could only be moved in the next session because the same motion was submitted and withdrawn during the current session.
But the parliament secretariat said later that it would be accepted.
Parliament will proceed with the impeachment motion in accordance with the law and standing orders, the secretariat said in a social media post.
Section 205 of parliament’s rules or standing orders lays out the processes for a no-confidence motion against the Speaker with eight clauses, none of which state that such a motion cannot be submitted twice during the same session.
