The parliamentary Committee on Member’s Privileges and Ethics is looking into the events that led to the injuries sustained by MP for Naifaru Constituency and PPM Vice President Ahmed Shiyam at a parliamentary session held to debate Amendment to the Constitution.
The session was held in the early hours of June 1st to avoid a legal vacuum in the country after the term for current Island and City councils was set to expire. In video recordings taken from the session, MPs from the ruling MDP were seen pushing MP Shiyam towards the chamber doors after the Speaker of Parliament called his name requesting him to step out of the chamber.
The committee is set to begin its investigation after the MP for Eydhafushi constituency Ahmed Saleem sent a letter addressing the Speaker of Parliament requesting that the committee on member’s privileges and ethics look into the incident and identify MP’s responsible for the alleged assault on MP Shiyam.
The Speaker had forwarded the letter to the committee for further deliberation and the committee is set to convene at 2:30 pm today for this deliberation.
The Opposition has said that MP Shiyam sustained injuries to his ribs and spine and is planning to seek medical treatment from abroad.
Since the alleged attack, opposition MPs have been boycotting parliamentary sessions and the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has requested them to reconsider the decision.
Also speaking to the media yesterday, Nasheed requested the authorities to investigate the video of the alleged assault and said that he trusted Home Minister Imran Abdullah to carry out the investigation in a fair and objective manner.
