Tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, who is the deputy leader of PPM, told Haveeru that his party was "looking into" the charges that could be filed against Gasim. PPM and the government would do anything in their power to defend their party members, he said. Adeeb stressed that any agreement JP had with its MPs was illegal and that JP would not be able to prosecute any member based on such an agreement. Three MPs elected on JP tickets have recently signed up for PPM. Their signing prompted JP's council to decide to lodge charges against those members. The tourism minister stressed that JP cannot make agreements with its members that limit constitutional rights, including the right to join any political party. He said that no member can be tried at court for having chosen a political stand, as is their right. "All 43 of our members are in PPM without such agreements. They can't take a legally inferior agreement to court, make a case against any member based on it, nor make any of them lose their seats even," he said. Adeeb accused Gasim of having competed for the speakership of the new parliament in order to have influence on the judiciary. He also said that Gasim had been sending text messages to the members at concern, threatening them over their campaign finances. "I advise JP to refrain from threatening PPM members. [Dhangethi MP] Ilham [Ahmed] had quit PPM and joined JP when he had gotten elected for the vice president of our party with majority votes. We did not run after him because we are well aware that changing their minds are a basic right of everyone," he said. With the recent signing of JP's Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Abdulla to PPM, the ruling party has secured an absolute majority in the parliament with a total of 43 members. JP has 12 MPs, whilst the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) members are 23.