Government on Tuesday, made a statement revealing that the security forces had acted on request of the parliament to beef up security in and around the parliament to thwart any unlawful acts that would violate the parliamentary rules of procedure.
The secretariat of the parliament had issued a press statement in refute to claims of security forces taking over the parliament.
In the statement, the parliament secretariat had highlighted that the voting for motion of no-confidence against the parliamentary speaker Abdulla Maseeh was not scheduled to be conducted on July 24. The statement also states that parliament secretariat had informed all parliamentarians of the brief hiatus due to security reasons during the period coinciding with the 52nd Independence Day and the impending visit by Pakistan prime minister, adding that no parliament sittings will be held until July 31.
According to the statement, measures taken by the security forces were to ensure the security and safety of the premises as mandated by the Article 105 of the Constitution.
President’s office had noted that the government reiterates utmost priority to ensuring the security and safety of all citizens and further urged the media to responsibly verify information before publication.
Riot police and soldiers entered the parliament to drag the opposition lawmakers out of the parliament premises.
Determined opposition lawmakers had managed to breach lines of riot police before storming the parliament.
Shortly after the parliament locked-up its gates and increased security around its premises, opposition lawmakers left the main opposition Jumhoory Party (JP) camp in Maafannu ward on foot to the parliament.
However, riot police armed with shields had blocked off the lawmakers a few meters from the JP camp before allowing them to march to the parliament.
The lawmakers with hundreds of supporters marched to the parliament before they were again blocked off by police. The MPs then rushed towards the police lines with several successfully breaching the lines before a few lawmakers climbed over the wall to enter the parliament grounds.
The now united opposition had wrested parliament control from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to file a no-confidence motion against the speaker.
