The parliamentary session on Wednesday was abruptly cut short when Vilifushi MP Hassan Afeef, who was presiding over the session, received a phone call.
The parliament finds itself in a deadlock, as its committees require reconstitution, and the main ruling party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has initiated no-confidence motions against Parliament Speaker Mohamed Nasheed and Deputy Speaker Eva Abdulla. Efforts are underway to break the stalemate. The 14-day notice period issued to the Deputy Speaker to respond to the no-confidence motion against her has expired, and previous attempts to include the motion on the agenda have failed. However, the MDP is pushing for the matter to be put on the agenda again without further delays. The opposing parties argue that the committees should be reconstituted before proceeding with the no-confidence motions. In the meantime, both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker have recused themselves from presiding over parliamentary sessions until their respective cases are resolved.
Despite MDP's requests, the no-confidence motion against Eva, which was initiated before the motion against Nasheed, was not included in today's agenda. Instead, the reconstitution of the committees took precedence. However, the session had to be adjourned temporarily due to disruptions caused by MPs representing the opposing PPM-PNC coalition and the emerging party, The Democrats. Tensions escalated when only Henveiru Central MP Ali Azim was given the opportunity to raise points of order by the Chair. Pro-government MPs later intervened to restore order, which resulted in further shouting matches and the use of inappropriate language by some members.
The session abruptly came to an end when MP Afeef, while presiding over the session, received a phone call. Overheard on the phone, he mentioned ending what is believed to be referring to the parliamentary session and subsequently concluded the session after concluding the call.
