Musthafa loses his seat in Parliament

Mohamed Mustafa, Member of Parliament for Thimarafushi Constituency, has lost his seat in Parliament effective from today, as the Supreme Court of the Maldives made its final decision in a case of established debt against Mustafa.

Mustafa, a prominent leader of former President Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), lost his Parliamentary seat at a time when his Party is conducting a mass rally against the current government following their fall from power.

The case against Mustafa was filed at the Supreme Court by a private individual, claiming that since Mustafa had failed to repay a loan he secured from the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which operated in the Maldives at one time, he is constitutionally unqualified to become a parliament member or remain one. Mustafa had not complied with a Court Order against him to repay the sum to the BCCI.

Today’s decision against Mustafa was by a 4 to 3 majority of the Supreme Court Bench.

After the Supreme Court of the Maldives scheduled the final hearing of the case for today and Mustafa was informed yesterday about the schedule, Mustafa gave a fiery speech at an MDP rally last night. In his speech, he threatened the Justices of the Supreme Court, saying that “none of you can hope to live in this country if you pronounce an illegal sentence against me”, without clarifying what “an illegal sentence” would be.

A hearing of this case was last conducted on the 20th of October 2011. At that time, Mustafa’s MDP was in power, and at the time of the hearing, MDP activists unlawfully gathered around the Supreme Court and staged a furious protest, intimidating the Court and issuing warnings against Justices. A hearing before 20th October was held on the 17th of March 2011, which was held more than a year after the previous hearing.