Maldives Democratic Party’s (MDP) Parliamentary Group calls on the Parliament Secretariat to not go against their regulations in the future or against the consensus of the majority lawmakers in the house.
This statement was made after Supreme Court’s ruling on the matter of the no-confidence motion lodged against Speaker Mohamed Nasheed by majority party MDP parliamentarians, and the parliament's consistent cancelling of the scheduled sittings to address the issue when Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla called in sick on the five different occasions it was scheduled for. MDP had filed a case with the Supreme Court requesting they rule that in the event the Deputy Speaker is unable to preside over such a session, one of the five longest serving parliamentarians be allowed to preside over the meeting.
Regarding the ruling made by the court yesterday, MDP released a statement calling the verdict one that upholds the autonomy of the Maldivian Constitution.
MDP likened the court's decision to a victory in the efforts to end the deathlock on the parliament.
"Our hope is that in the future, the parliament will not take any action that will be in violation of the Parliament Regulations. And that no one should act in a manner that is not in accordance with democratic norms, which may hamper the decision-making process by a majority of parliament," the statement said.
In their verdict, the Supreme Court said that in cases where the Speaker and the Vice Speaker are unable to preside, the provision that the five members to be appointed under the rules of the parliament can preside is there to avoid a legal vacuum that may arise in the event of such an issue. The court noted that there was no provision in the rules in which the five MPs could not preside.
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