General Purpose Committee of Parliament has declared the no-confidence motion filed against Parliament Speaker Abdulla Maseeh last year with 45 signatories is valid.
At the meeting of the General Purpose Committee, it was decided that the debate on the motion would be carried out for two hours, with Maseeh given 30 minutes to present a defence. The decision by the committee follows a letter sent by the parliament chair, which alludes to a Supreme Court ruling. While adjourning today's parliament sitting, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Moosa Manik announced a parliament sitting has been scheduled for 2000 hours, Thursday night.
12 of the parliamentarians that were signatory to the no-confidence motion filed against Speaker Maseeh last year were summoned to the Supreme Court by the Attorney General, accusing them of being in contradiction with the party charters of their respective political parties. It was followed by a Supreme Court ruling on floor-crossing, which was in turn alluded to, when the Elections Commission declared the 12 parliamentarians had lost their seats.
The no-confidence motion thereby, was nullified on the basis that it did not have the required number of signatories. However, the Supreme Court had concluded the membership of all of the said 12 parliamentarians remain valid. It led to the General Purpose Committee to decide the no-confidence motion filed against Maseeh last year with 45 signatories is, in turn, valid.
The decision comes in the wake of a new no-confidence motion being filed against the Speaker last week, with 51 signatories. However, with the General Purpose Committee declaring last year's motion valid, the motion filed last week, would be nullified.