Malé, Maldives – Former President and current Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on Sunday, requested the national council of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to release a statement pushing to pass the bill on amendments to criminalize hate crimes, the way it was initially presented to the parliament.
Speaker Nasheed has continuously advocated the parliament and MDP to pass the bill. He previously said that he can no longer have a political relationship with President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih if he is against the bill.
In a message sent to a WhatsApp group with MDP members, Speaker Nasheed said that he wants to bass the bill the way it was initially presented. He also expressed his intention for the national council of MDP to release a statement to pass the bill, pressuring the Parliamentary Group to vote for the bill.
Replying to Nasheed’s statements, MP of Maradhoo Constituency Ibrahim Shareef said that Nasheed cannot influence parliamentary decisions that way. Following this, Nasheed said that the citizens of MP Shareef’s Constituencdecidegarding his opinion.
The proposed amendments in the bill which are being highly criticized by the public and several Islamic scholars are amendments to criminalize pointing out that a person is living against the rules of Islamic religion in a public place and creating hatred towards a person in the society by relating it to the Islamic faith.
