PNC’s Saleem elected Deputy Speaker of Parliament

Eydhafushi MP Ahmed Saleem (Redwave Saleem), a lawmaker from the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), has been elected as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

The election came a day after Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim, once seen as one of the most influential figures within the PNC, resigned from deputy speakership on Sunday, less than half an hour ahead of a sitting on a no-confidence vote pushed against him by his own party.

The Parliament convened for a sitting on Monday morning to elect his replacement.

Saleem, nominated by PNC, which holds a supermajority in the Parliament, won by a majority vote of 62. Vaikaradhoo MP Hussain Ziyad (Fitte), the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s candidate, received 10 votes, while two abstained from voting.

Saleem, the owner of the supermarket chain Redwave, is among the longest-serving members of the Parliament. Currently on his fourth successive term, Saleem serves in leadership roles in two of the most powerful parliamentary committees; as chair of the Security Services Committee, and as deputy chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

The motion against Nazim, endorsed by 73 lawmakers from his party, was filed with the Parliament on May 14. It accused Nazim of repeatedly abusing his office to create strife and disharmony within the Parliament, but did not mention any specifics.

Nazim described the allegations against him as baseless, but said that he had decided to resign as the motion was endorsed by all members of the ruling party’s parliamentary group – which had elected him  to the role in the first place.

Nazim, who was pulled in late April from key parliamentary committees he sat in, was kicked out at around 06:00 am May 13 from a WhatsApp group for PNC parliamentarians managed by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The party made the decision to remove the Dhiggaru representative from his position as Deputy Speaker during a parliamentary group meeting the same day.

A senior parliamentarian from the party told Sun that Nazim was instructed to resign, and that the party decided to file a no-confidence motion to force him out after he refused.

While the exact reason why PNC turned against Nazim is unclear, former President Mohamed Nasheed recently the party filed the no-confidence motion because he and 23 other parliamentarians from the party planned to cross party lines and submit an impeachment motion against President Muizzu.

However, this claim is denied by the ruling party.

Nasheed also recently claimed that President Muizzu planned to meet Nazim in Singapore during his trip over the Eid holidays. However, the claim was denied by chief government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), who maintained that the trip was a private family vacation.