No joke, we will impeach President Nasheed, vows DRP MPs

A group of opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party MPs has vowed to impeach President Mohamed Nasheed, over alleged violation of the country’s constitution.

DRP Parliamentarian Ahmed Nihan has said that a no-confidence motion against President Nasheed will be forwarded to Parliament soon, Minivan News reported.

“Any MP who works according to the oath and is sincere to their people, will definitely support the motion,” he claimed in the news report.

“This is a very serious declaration, this is not a joke. The whole nation is calling in one voice simultaneously for the resignation of the president,” he added.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf, DRP MP and deputy leader of the party Ahmed Ilham and DRP MP Ali Arif were working together to secure the no-confidence vote.

He called for the support of all DRP members for the motion, although he was not sure of what the party’s stand would be, it said.

He claimed that President Nasheed has violated the constitution “multiple times” adding that if the president was “allowed to to do whatever he wished, there will be no use for an institution named parliament.”

“There is no need to go out and protest on the streets, there is only one individual who is the issue for the Maldives,” Nihan was quoted as saying in Minivan News. “It is the president who is the issue, and as MPs it is our lawful duty to file this motion and send the president home.”

However, MDP MP Ahmed Shifaz has said that opposition MP were “only in parliament with the sole intention of trying to topple the government.”

“I can give you 100 percent assurance that they will not be able to topple the government in parliament,” said Shifaz. “Even if they try [with this motion] it would not be successful,” Shifaz was quoted as saying in Minivan News.

High Commissioner doubts Dr. Saeed’s UK meetings

Maldivian High Commissioner in UK, Dr. Farahanaz Faisal has said that she has not received any information of Dr. Hassan Saeed’s meetings with “UK officials.”

She was quoted as saying in Miadhu that “it is questionable if Dr. Hassan Saeed were able to meet with officials.”

DQP Leader and former Attorney General Dr. Hassan Saeed along with its Deputy Leader Dr. Ahmed Jameel last week wrapped up a tour in the UK to urge the international community to pressurise President Nasheed to act constitutionally.

Dr. Farahanaz however stressed Maldives-UK relations remain strong.

She said “as far as UK government procedures are concerned, UK government would inform High Commissioner if those meetings did actually take place,” Miadhu reported.

“I am not saying that he did not meet. What I am saying is that there is no news on Dr. Hassan Saeed’s visit in UK dailies and were not reported in any TV station either” said Maldives’ first female PHD holder.

- Asian Tribune -