The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which favors China, is reportedly planning to file a motion to remove President Mohamed Muizzu. This information was obtained by media sources on Monday.
The government coalition, consisting of the People’s National Congress (PNC) and the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), announced that they would not allow attempts to remove President Mohamed Muizzu through the legislative process. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which holds a majority in Parliament and is the primary opposition party in the Maldives, is reportedly getting ready to submit a motion to remove Mohamed Muizzu from office, according to media reports on Monday.
The Edition.mv added that PPM Parliamentary Group (PG) leader Ahmed Saleem (Redwave Saleem), who represents the Eydhafushi seat, stated in a news conference on Monday that the coalition would thwart any attempts by the MDP to remove President Muizzu from his position.
“We are not going to give them any more chances to carry this out. They will have to kill us all before they can even think about removing the President from office, according to citations of Ahmed Saleem.
The coalition declared that such an event would not be allowed to happen, irrespective of the aspirations of the MDP, which has a majority in parliament, and its splinter party, The Democrats.
This comes only one day after opposition and pro-government lawmakers battled in Parliament on Sunday over differences over the selection of four pro-China members of the president’s cabinet.
Parliamentary Democrats and the MDP decided not to endorse four members of Muizzu’s cabinet before the vote, and as a result, pro-government MPs from the PPM/PNC coalition protested, disrupting the parliamentary session.
The MDP has gathered enough signatures in tandem with the Democrats to back an impeachment resolution. However, they haven’t yet filed anything,” Sun.com reported, quoting a politician from the MDP.
The decision to bring an impeachment motion was made unanimously at the MDP’s parliamentary group meeting on Monday, according to The Edition.mv.
In September of last year, Muizzu, 45, emerged victorious over incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who was friendly with India. MP Ahmed Thoriq claims that the results of the most recent presidential election demonstrate that the MDP is not in charge of the country’s current situation.
Thoriq claims that the MDP’s attempts to abolish the Muizzu are futile because a few of its members had already voted against the party’s position on Monday’s cabinet approval votes.
“That in itself proves that MDP does not in actuality have the numbers they want,” he stated.
Muizzu officially asked India to remove 88 military soldiers from the Maldives by March 15 shortly after assuming office as president on November 17. He asserted that he had a “strong mandate” from the Maldivians to approach New Delhi with this request.
The 87-member Maldivian Parliament recently changed its standing regulations to make it simpler to file an impeachment motion. Together, the MDP and Democrats have 56 MPs: the MDP has 43 MPs and the Democrats have 13.
The Sun.com stated that “the president can be impeached with 56 votes, per the Constitution and the Parliament’s standing orders.”
Signatures are being gathered for an impeachment effort against the President, one day after the PPM-PNC alliance, with the support of 23 lawmakers, submitted no-confidence motions against Speaker Mohamed Aslam and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Saleem, both of the MDP.
On Monday, however, Maldivian MPs cast ballots against the nomination of three cabinet members. The main opposition attempted to prevent a vote on Muizzu’s newly chosen 22-member cabinet by lawmakers from the ruling party.
Social media footage from Sunday night, when there was a violent altercation within the chamber that resulted in the temporary suspension of sittings, showed at least one MP bleeding from the neck.
Legislators were seen removing microphones and using plastic trumpets to disrupt sessions in the small Indian Ocean archipelago, which is better known for its affluent travel.
Two other MPs had to step in to save the victim after a rival MP restrained him by putting his knee to his neck.
The meetings on Sunday were halted just before midnight. To vote on the presidential appointees to the cabinet, a fresh meeting was called for Monday.
Three key positions were rejected by Parliament: the minister of Islamic affairs, the minister of housing and Islamic affairs, and the attorney general. The opponents refrained from voicing their concerns on the trio.
Later on Monday, Muizzu declared that he had reappointed the three seats.
September’s presidential elections were won by Muizzu. However, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and its allies hold a two-thirds majority in parliament, where his party is in opposition.
After the government allowed a Chinese espionage ship to dock in Male, the opposition parties attacked President Muizzu for his pro-China stance.
The Opposition chose to begin the impeachment procedure in response to the violent altercation that occurred in parliament yesterday.
Violence broke out on Sunday during a crucial vote on parliamentary approval for the Muizzu government, which was disrupted by government MPs from the PPM/PNC party.
Resistance has been encountered by President Muizzu, who assumed office with a strong position against India. This is especially true in light of the diplomatic fallout with New Delhi over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s widely circulated post about his visit to the Lakshadweep islands.
Mr. Muizzu, who represents the island nation’s security threat, has been vocal about his desire for India to withdraw its 80,000 troops from the country by the middle of March. This is the latest in his tirade against the country.
The abrupt change in strategy, which had previously viewed India as an ally and friend, infuriated the opposition, and after the Chinese spy ship incident, things became more heated.
The Democrats and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) together released a press statement denouncing the government’s recent policy shift as “extremely detrimental” to the nation’s long-term development and charging it with taking a “stark” anti-Indian stance.
The ability of succeeding administrations to “work with all development partners for the benefit of the people of the Maldives, as the Maldives has traditionally done,” was emphasized by both the MDP and the Democrats.
By mid-March, the Maldives Parliamentary elections are scheduled.