In trying to dismiss Nasheed, MDP will lose again: Azim

Parliamentary Group Leader of The Democrats and MP for Henveiru Central constituency Ali Azim has stated on Thursday that by attempting to dismiss Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed from his position, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will have to face yet another major defeat.

While MDP has raised concerns whether the no-condifence motion will be allowed to go through, the Parliament Secretariat has placed the matter on agenda for Sunday's parliamentary sitting.

Azim said that MDP will lose by a large margin in the no-confidence vote against Nasheed, similar to how they lost September's presidential election.

"You're going to lose again, MDP, lose terribly. God willing, we will not allow any motion to dismiss the Speaker to go ahead while we are in parliament," Azim said.

Azim claimed that MDP, which is the biggest political party to have been formed in the Maldives, has been 'reduced to ruins' in the past five years. He said that the party had failed in the public eye by being unable to achieve any results despite holding all powers of the State. He went on to claim that this was a direct result of the incompetence of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

Azim further alleged that MDP is attempting to remove Nasheed from his position as Speaker to appease the President after his defeat in September's presidential election.

"What I want to say to my former colleagues, members of MDP, is that losing a presidential election is in no means a reason to then submit a no-confidence motion against the Parliament Speaker. If that is the case for you, then the President should not compete in such competitive elections," Azim said.

Meanwhile, MDP has stated that the party will not cooperate in conducting any parliamentary work unless and until the no-confidence motion is allowed to proceed. They further said that they will not accept President Elect Dr Mohamed Muizzu's oath of office if it is officiated by Nasheed as Speaker.

MDP has previously submitted another motion to dismiss Nasheed. That motion, after facing multiple delays, was withdrawn during the run up to the second round of last month's presidential election.