Ruling party defends president over ouster of "activist judge"

  

The People’s National Congress came to the defence of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu following the resignation of Justice Husnu Suood in protest against alleged political interference with the Supreme Court.  

Suood accused Muizzu of blocking a pending judgment on the constitutionality of anti-defection rules inserted into the constitution by the PNC supermajority – which prohibited floor crossing and empowered parties to unseat lawmakers at will – by suspending three justices, passing a bill to downsize the Supreme Court, and intimidating all seven justices.

But the PNC insisted that the legal changes and suspensions followed established constitutional and legal procedures. The judicial watchdog was simply fulfilling its constitutional mandate by investigating Suood's alleged ethical breaches, it added.

The president has been "exemplary" in ensuring that oversight bodies could function independently “and the fulfilment of responsibilities by such institutions is not influence on the judiciary,” the ruling party maintained. 

"These are matters that should not be stopped because they involve a particular judge of a particular court or because a particular case is being adjudicated in court. These are matters that should proceed when they arise if the constitutional legal system is functioning robustly."

The statement went on to describe Suood as an “activist judge” and criticised the manner of his resignation as proof of his political activism. The outgoing justice broke protocol by addressing his resignation letter to President Muizzu instead of the Judicial Service Commission as clearly required by law, the party said. 

Suood shared the letter with the media and submitted it to the President’s Office “in order to make baseless allegations” against the president. “Whether in the post of a judge or while leaving the post, judges prioritising political thinking and principles of activism is not something known by legal systems,” the PNC said.

The statement followed a concerted effort to portray Suood as an unreformed activist of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party. Over the past week, political appointees and lawmakers have flooded social media with photos of Suood at political events prior to his appointment to the bench by the MDP government in 2019. A pro-government outlet accused Suood of defaming innocent people in his role as the chair of an inquiry commission set up by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on unsolved deaths and disappearances.