Q&A: People’s Majlis Speaker Abdulla Shahid
06 Nov 2013, 5:08 PM
Zaheena Rasheed
On October 27, the People’s Majlis passed a resolution to hand over executive powers to the Majlis Speaker if there is no president-elect at the end of the current presidential term on November 11. Subsequently, 15 MPs of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), the Jumhooree Party (JP), Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) and Adhaalath Party (AP) filed a no confidence motion against Speaker Abdulla Shahid. The vote has been scheduled for November 20.
Meanwhile, the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) is in Malé after the prosecution of several MPs and the Supreme Court’s removal of two MPs from parliament over decreed debt. Furthermore, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor has taken refuge inside the Majlis following efforts to prosecute him for refusal to provide a urine sample. He has now been sentenced in absentia to six months in jail for non-compliance with court summons.
The Majlis secretariat has now appointed an independent Sergeant At Arms and is recruiting an additional 104 security officers to oversee security of the Majlis – a task carried out by the Maldives National Defense Forces (MNDF) at present.
Minivan News spoke to Speaker Abdulla Shahid on his views regarding presidential polls scheduled for November 9, interim arrangements, parliamentary privileges and and security of the Majlis.
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