The Parliament has today thrown out an emergency motion that said that the government was threatening those who are signing for the newly formed 'The Democrats.
The Democrats are the breakaway faction within the majority ruling party MDP. The faction was formed by MDP President Mohamed Nasheed after he lost the MDP Presidential primary to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih earlier this year.
The motion was submitted to the parliament by the founder of the party and the MP for Henveiru Hulhangu Constituency Hassan Latheef.
MP Latheef attempted to file the motion yesterday but with the decorum of the legislative house in disarray, yesterday's session was cut short.
While submitting the motion, Latheef accused the government of stealing information about the party's members from the Elections Commission and then threatening and intimidating members who signed for the party.
Latheef highlighted that several government officials and seniors at state-owned companies have threatened members of The Democrats.
He noted that these callers have been asking members if they have applied for any government housing scheme and whether or not any of their children had taken out student loans and demanded that they take their membership signs back if they were employed at state-owned companies.
When the motion was put to a vote to be accepted for the debate stage, 33 MPs present today voted against the motion. With only 16 MPs supporting the motion, it was unceremoniously thrown out of the parliament.
