Nasheed rules out Parliament Speaker bid

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has confirmed that he is not interested in becoming the Speaker of the Parliament.

It is believed by political figures of the archipelago that Nasheed, who will be contesting for the Machchangolhi Central constituency seat in the upcoming parliamentary elections, has set his sights on becoming the Speaker of the 19th Parliament.

According to the Maldivian Constitution, in the event that the offices of both the President and Vice President becomes vacant at the same time, leading to an incapacity to carry out the duties of the President, the duties of both offices will be temporarily carried out by the Speaker of the Parliament until successors in office are chosen.

Refuting the claims while speaking on local televeision channel 'Raajje TV', Nasheed said he has always been interested in representing the people of the Maldives as a member of the parliament. However, he does not have any intention of securing the Parliament Speaker post, said Nasheed.

With just a few months remaining for the parliamentary elections, Dhidhdhoo lawmaker Abdul Latheef Mohamed from Jumhoory Party (JP) submitted an amendment to the parliamentary election law, believed to be largely designed to prevent former president Mohamed Nasheed from running for parliament in April.

The lawmaker has thus far ignored pleas by his party to withdraw the amendment, forcing MDP to question the validity of the joint parliamentary group.

Speaking on the matter, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih recently said is unacceptable to obstruct the parliamentary elections in any way, and noted that it is unconstitutional to bar any individual from exercising their right to contest in elections. He further emphasized that the requirements for running for the parliament is clear in the constitution, and it should not be manipulated to marginalize certain individuals from running in the election.

Nasheed said on Wednesday that it is highly unlikely that the bill will be passed by the parliament, and even in the inprobable event that the bill is approved, he is confident that President Solih would not ratify the bill.