An emergency motion was filed on Monday at Parliament, claiming that a report submitted by former president Dr Mohamed Waheed to Maldives Police Service over being verbally harassed by a member of the ruling party was "fraudulent".
Early Saturday, Dr Waheed made a public statement alleging that an activist associated with Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had stalked and verbally harassed both him and his spouse, the former First Lady Ilham Hussain, using obscene language.
The incident took place while the couple was out for a morning walk by the swimming track on the southern coast of capital Male' City. Dr Waheed disclosed that his security personnel had immediately filed a police report over the incident.
Parliament Representative for Raa Atoll's Ungoofaaru Constituency MP Mohamed Waheed, who submitted the motion, declared during the ensuing debate that the former president's initial tweet regarding the incident, which used the term "attack", was a "blatant lie" as it wrongly insinuated that MDP activist Ibrahim 'Joarey' Jaufar had physically assaulted the two.
The tweet had also drawn public ire for the same reason.
MP Waheed went on to state that Jaufar had suffered injustice during the MDP-led protest held after former President Mohamed Nasheed's controversial resignation on February 7, 2012, adding that Dr Waheed's police report against Jaufar was another form of unjust harm brought upon an ordinary citizen.
During the debate, MP Waheed further upheld MDP leadership's stance that former President Nasheed's fall from power in 2012 was the result of an alleged coup d'état with Dr Waheed, who at the time was Vice President, behind the orchestration.
The lawmaker declared that MDP had vowed to seek justice for all the wrongdoings witnessed during and after the alleged coup, and that his emergency motion against Waheed fell in part under that vow.
Following the parliamentary session, a number of Maldivians took to Twitter and Facebook, expressing discontent over the parliamentarian's choice of debate amid renewed concerns of female harassment and child abuse in the country, as well as issues regarding social welfare, rent control and ecocide.
Despite MDP's stance on the unprecedented rallies that saw Nasheed's resignation in 2012, the Commission of National Inquiry (CONI) which was put together to probe allegations of a coup d'état, had concluded that there was no evidence to indicate a coup.
Waheed was sworn in as president right after former President Mohamed Nasheed's resignation. He was succeeded by jailed former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in the 2013 presidential elections.
Sign In