MDP PG Leader MP for Hithadhoo North Constituency Mohamed Asalam has been elected as the 2nd Speaker of the 19th Parliament tonight.
MP Aslam was elected as the Speaker at a parliamentary session held tonight. He defeated Parliament Minority Leader MP for Central Henveiru Constituency Ali Azim by claiming 53 votes from his fellow MPs. MP Ali Azim received the backing from 23 MPs who took part in the vote.
Out of the 77 MPs present at the session tonight, 76 MPs took part in the secret vote.
Aslam's appointment as the Speaker concludes MDP's long-winding attempt to remove former President Mohamed Nasheed from the Speaker post after it had submitted a motion to remove him last month.
Parliament sessions were hindered several times before MDP turned to the Supreme Court for a constitutional decision to move forward and though the top Court ruled in the party's favor, MDP was once again thwarted at the parliament.
The party's motion to remove Nasheed was rejected twice by the Parliament and before it could submit the motion for a third time, Nasheed himself resigned from the post.
In a letter to the Parliament Secretary General, Nasheed said that he understood that the matter of his removal may have implications for the democratic governance of the country and that the Parliament Majority Party MDP has acted against the principles of democracy.
He further said that MDP had turned to the Courts to weaken the Parliament and its members and that this was a sad injustice.
Nasheed added that if he remained as the Speaker of the Parliament, the damage from the majority party would be increasing.
He said that with his resignation there would be stability and integrity back to the democratic system.
