Speakers no-confidence motions rescinded

The no-confidence motions that were submitted against Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla has been withdrawn.

The motions were rescinded after acquiring the necessary signatures.

While the Parliament Secretariat put their no-confidence motion debates on Monday, September 11, session's agenda, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary group on Sunday evening decided to revert the motion.

Nasheed, who chaired Monday's session, stated that 25 members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had withdrawn their support for the motion. However, he said that the motion still had enough signatures to proceed with the debate, and he argued that the matter should move forward.

"At least a minimum of 8 members need to rescind their signatures. So, it is my opinion that the issue can still proceed forward," Nasheed said while handing over Monday sitting's chair to Vilufushi MP Hassan Afeef.

Following Afeef's decision to proceed with the no-confidence debate, Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef announced that the MDP parliamentary group had decided on Sunday evening to withdraw the issue, which had been mistakenly not informed to the parliament secretariat.

The MP requested 15 minutes of recess for the ruling party members to formally rescind their decision.

Following the 15-minute recess, Afeef announced that 33 members had rescinded their signatures from the no-confidence motion submitted against Deputy Speaker as well.

Afeef said both the motions now lacked the required number of signatories for them to proceed. He announced the parliament's decision to drop the motions.

The no-confidence motions against the speakers were submitted earlier in June after which parliament went into a deadlock.

The Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) decision to withdraw the no-confidence motions against Nasheed and Eva came after the party failed to secure victory in the presidential election's first round and had to proceed to the second round. The MDP has initiated discussions to form a coalition, and it is anticipated that they will require Nasheed's support in this process.

MDP candidate and incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih secured second place in the first round of the presidential election. Following this result, the ruling party announced its willingness to engage in discussions with other political parties to explore the possibility of forming an alliance.

Nasheed, along with several key members, left MDP and went on to establish The Democrats, which also fielded its candidate, Ilyas Labeeb, in the presidential elections. The Democrats' candidate secured third place, with over 15,000 votes (6 percent).

It is speculated that the decision to withdraw the no-confidence motions against Nasheed and Eva may be connected to the ongoing discussions among political parties.

In the first round of the presidential election, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who was seeking re-election, secured second place with over 86,161 votes (39.5 percent). Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, the candidate of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) coalition received 101,635 votes (46.6 percent).