MP dismissal over public wishes should be possible: Abdul Raheem

The Parliament Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla has said that the law must provide for the removal of parliament MPs if their constituents are unhappy with them.

Abdul Raheem said this in an interview with the state media, PSM.

In his interview, the Speaker said that while the president has been elected by the public, the MPs have been elected with vote of 5,000 constituents from the administrative constituencies.

While noting that the discretion to remove the president has been prescribed by law, Abdul Raheem said the removal of MPs have not been facilitated.

The Speaker expressed he did not believe this should be the status quo.

“I do not believe it is adequate with the times, that while the removal of the highest public elected official is possible, but those who are elected below this level cannot be removed,” Abdul Raheem said.

According to the Speaker, the law must provide for the removal of MPs if they begin working in contradiction to the ideals of their constituents or for other violations.