MDP to stage walkout at tomorrow

Following the announcement that the approval of Vice President Mohamed Waheeddeen and fourteen cabinet ministers is on the agenda at tomorrow’s Parliament session, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary Group has decided to stage a walkout.

MDP PG Leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (Ibu) said at a press conference today that this decision was made because the Parliament session will not be legitimate. As the legitimacy of the new government is still questionable, to grant approval to its ministers would not be legal.

“Several Parliament meetings have been conducted against rules and regulations earlier as well. Because this is yet another such session, we have decided against participating in it,” Ibu said.

He also said that the Parliament office had not responded to MDP’s request to postpone the issue of approving ministers. However there had been some indication that the Parliament office will respond to this sometime today.

MDP PG Deputy Leader Ali Waheed said that MDP’s decision to walkout tomorrow session shows patience and courage of MDP PG members. He called on MDP members to exercise patience while the approval voting is conducted at the Parliament session tomorrow.

MDP Interim Chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik said that President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s indication that an investigation into the events of transfer of power is necessary raised questions regarding the legitimacy of the new government. He noted that if the President himself believes that this is the case, the issue of granting approval for ministers should not be scheduled at a Parliament session.

“He created a Commission himself, to determine whether it was a coup or not. So this makes it clear that he does not believe that the government is legitimate. Even if it is granted approval, the government can’t even submit bills to the Parliament, because no member of the government’s party is in the Parliament.”