Malé, Maldives – Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) has said it is unacceptable for the Speaker of the Parliament, former President Mohammed Nasheed to represent another country at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27).
Mohamed Nasheed for attending the COP 27 summit being held in Egypt as a member of the Sri Lankan national delegation. Nasheed is also a climate advisor to the country’s President, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
MRM said in a statement that this is contrary to the interests of the state, Article 75 of the Constitution and the spirit of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, an act that misinterprets the responsibilities of the Speaker of Parliament and violates the ethical standards.
The statement also stated that in an international conference in which Maldives is also participating Nasheed’s participation as a representative of another country shows his lack of respect for Maldives.
Meanwhile, the statement condemned Nasheed for such an act in his capacity as a former President of Maldives and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, one of the three branches of the state, which is also composed of their representatives elected by the people.
Nasheed, who is representing Sri Lanka at the summit in Egypt, was recently appointed as the international climate advisor to President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Nasheed was also tasked to seek foreign aid for Sri Lanka’s financial and economic crisis.
MRM’s statement against Speaker Nasheed comes while some local media reports have stated that the Speaker was not invited to take part in the Maldivian delegation to COP27 after which the former President and Speaker of Parliament decided to attend the COP27 with the Sri Lankan delegation. The Maldivian delegation is led by Vice President Faisal Naseem.
Parliament of Maldives had also released an announcement stating that President Nasheed left for Sham el-Sheikh, Egypt on Friday morning to attend the 27th “Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” (COP 27) and that it is an official visit and he is attending the summit as a member of the Sri Lankan national delegation.
Speaker Nasheed has been a highly vocal climate advocate over the past years. He has also represented Maldives at all COP meetings held in the past 15 years and has participated in the discussions. President Nasheed is one of the most frequent attendee of the COP meetings to bring the world’s attention to Maldives vulnerability and the threat posed by climate change.
