Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has stated in the Supreme Court today that the no confidence motion against Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed must be placed on the agenda for the Presidential Inauguration scheduled to be held on November 17.
Multiple sittings to confer on the no confidence motion in Parliament were cancelled due to Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla's failure to attend, owing to being on sick leave. The Parliament Secretariat maintains that a sitting on a no confidence motion against the Speaker can only be presided over by the Deputy Speaker.
Sunsequently, MDP filed a constitutional case on the matter at the Supreme Court, seeking an interpretation of the law which would allow for one of the five longest serving parliamentarians to preside over the sitting in the instance the Deputy Speaker fails to attend.
MDP believes that there are legal obstacles for the swearing in of a new President in the instance that Nasheed's case remains stalled. The Attorney General's Office, however, dismissed such concerns.
Speaking in today's court hearing, MDP Lawyer Ahmed Abdulla Afeef stated that the no-confidence motion against Nasheed must be placed topmost on the agenda of the President Elect's Inauguration.
"The inauguration will take place in a parliament sitting, so parliament work can be conducted. But the Parliament Regulations stipulate that any work of the parliament can proceed only after a decision is made (on the matter of no confidence against the Speaker)," Afeef said.
The lawyer was referring to Article 205 (d) of the Parliament Regulations. He stated that the spirit of this phrase is that in the instance the Speaker does not hold the confidence of the parliament, any work conducted under him would prove to be questionable.
"Doing so would present the opportunity to raise questions regarding the legality and credibility of the Speaker," Afeef said, dissuading the holding of the inauguration before the no confidence motion is settled.
Intervenor to the case, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) Coalition's lawyer Azima Shakoor responded saying that matters like State budget and Presidential Inauguration must be allowed to proceed without inhibition.
"Regardless of how many signatures it carries, if the no confidence motion does not go through in a vote, you will have to accept the Speaker does, in fact, have the confidence of the Parliament," she said.
The hearings on this case have been concluded by the Supreme Court today. A verdict will be announced at the bench's next sitting.