The Parliamentary session that could potentially remove the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed has kicked off after days of delays and distractions.
The session is being chaired by the MP for Vilifushi Constituency Hassan Afeef who chairs the sessions in the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament MP Eva Abdullah.
The Parliament Secretary General Fathimath Niusha said that since MP Eva was on medical leave, MP Afeef was chairing the session as per Article 44 of the Parliament's Standing order as he is one of the five MPs selected to chair sessions.
The agenda for the session has only one item and that is the debate on the resolution to remove Speaker Nasheed from his post.
The debate is set to last three hours with each MP allocated three minutes to speak. The Speaker who is the subject of the resolution will get 30 minutes to talk in his defence, at the start, middle, and at end of the debate.
MDP submitted the resolution last month with signatures from 49 MPs but has not been able to see out the resolution with several delays.
Several sessions were canceled after the resolution was put on the agenda as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament remains on sick leave. The Parliament Standing Order dictates that only the Deputy Speaker can chair a session that could remove its Speaker.
But MDP turned to the Supreme Court for a ruling on the matter and the top Court ruled that the Parliament's interpretation of its own Standing Order was incorrect and that any other MP can chair the session to remove Nasheed from his post.
