The no-confidence motion in the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Eva Abdullah, could not be held as there is no one to preside over the session.
Parliamentary Secretary General Fathimath Niusha announced in todays sitting that the Speaker of the Parliament shall preside over the motion of no confidence in the Deputy Speaker according to the rules of parliament.
However, Speaker of Parliament, Mohammed Nasheed, has excused himself from presiding over the parliament sittings because theres a no-confidence motion against him as well.
Niusha also told that as the motion to remove Vice-Speaker Eva Abdullah from her post has been scheduled for today’s session and the Speaker of Parliament was sent a letter asking to preside over the session.
However, in Speaker Nasheed’s letter dated June 12, he informed that he is reluctant to preside over the session for the motion to impeach the Vice-President under Rule 215(b) of the Rules of Procedure until a decision is taken on the impeachment motion against the Speaker first.
“Therefore, I would like to inform the honorable members that today’s session cannot be conducted until a decision is taken on the presidency,” she said.
The no-confidence motion against the Speaker and Deputy-Speaker was moved simultaneously by the ruling MDP members. However, as the rules of the parliament state that the Speaker shall preside over the no-confidence motion against the Deputy-Speaker and vice versa, both motions have been left in a limbo.
As the two issues are not taken up, the MDP members have been protesting in the sessions to prevent the parliament from doing other work. In recent sessions, the Speaker had declared that the sessions cannot continue as the decorum was lost due to the protests.
Parliamentary committees have also come to a standstill and the committees have not been formed because the parties have not reached an agreement. The change in the number of members of the parties has forced the restructuring of the committees.
MDP members say the committee meetings must continue despite the delay in restructure in the composition of the committees and that rules of the parliament do not allow committee meetings to be suspended.
