Nasheed says not concerned about efforts to impeach him

Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed has said he is not concerned regarding the efforts to impeach him.

During a press conference held Monday, Nasheed was asked regarding the efforts to remove him from his position as the Parliament Speaker. In his response, he said it was not a major concern and said he was confident that many MPs accept the work he is doing in the Parliament. He added that he did not want to elaborate on the matter.

The main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s MPs who are loyal to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, are trying to remove Nasheed from the post of Speaker and Eva Abdulla from the post of Vice-President. A resolution has been prepared, and the number of signatures required to move a no-confidence motion has been collected. While a no-confidence motion requires 22 signatures, some members say that nearly forty signatures have been obtained.

Those involved in the petition said they would not stop the efforts to remove Nasheed and Eva from office. Members of the public are also signing an online petition calling for Nasheed and Eva to be removed from office.

The no-confidence motion against the Speaker of Parliament can be passed with the votes of the majority of Parliament. That is 43 members out of the current 87 members.