Former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President Dr Ibrahim Didi has said he will take concerns over the legitimacy of a no confidence motion taken against him last month to the country’s courts, after the Elections Commission (EC) dropped his complaint.
Dr Didi, along with former party Vice President Alhan Fahmy, were both voted out of their respective positions by the MDP’s National Council in a vote held on April 30. Both were dismissed through a no-confidence motion approved by 69 out of 73 votes – though Didi and Fahmy have been critical of the legality of the vote.
The MDP has contended that the dismissal case is “over” following the passing of the no-confidence motion against the president and vice president.
However, Dr Didi told Minivan News today that his lawyers were currently sending a case to the courts regarding his dismissal from the party’s presidency. He contends the no confidence motion was not taken in line with the MDP’s approved regulations registered with the EC at the time.
The comments were made as the EC this week said there was no action it could take relating to concerns raised by the former party president over the legality of the no-confidence motion against him.
EC Vice President Ahmed Fayaz claimed that the commission had not ruled on whether the MDP National Council had acted according to its regulations in dismissing the party president and vice president. Nonetheless, Fayaz added there was also no evidence to suggest the dismissal was unconstitutional under basic regulations.
“Dr Didi has sent us a letter stating that his dismissal was against the party’s constitution; as a regulator we looked into the matter,” he said. “We can’t say anything about whether the party acted according to its regulations, but we have not found any grounds that it was unconstitutional under these rules.”
Fayaz said Dr Didi’s dismissal from the presidency did not also appear to be in breach of regulations that were put in place when multi-party democracy was established under the tenure of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 2005.
Fayaz added that legislation that would oversee and outline correct procedures for operating political parties – such as no confidence motions against senior figures – did not currently exist. He added that the lack of such a law limited the action that could be taken in such a case.
Though a law to oversee governance among the country’s parties is demanded under the present constitution, the bill had still yet to be passed by the Majlis, Fayaz said.
Court motion
Dr Ibrahim Didi said that, as the EC do not have legal grounds to rule on the no confidence motion, he would now work to submit a court case raising his concerns about the nature of his dismissal.
Dr Didi said he believed the MDP did not have proof to support claims that he has been dismissed legitimately in line with party regulations, which were amended on May 17, 2012.
“They [the party’s national council] do not have a legal right to take a no confidence motion under the registered regulations,” he added.
Dr Didi also raised concerns about the legitimacy of former President Nasheed’s exact position within the MDP following the controversial transfer of power in February that saw President Mohamed Waheed Hassan succeed him into office.
Didi raised issue that Nasheed retained leadership of the MDP despite no longer holding the position of Maldivian President.
Responding to Dr Didi’s criticisms, MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said his dismissal case was “over” as far as the party was concerned.
Ghafoor pointed to several factors such as the findings of the EC, as well as the 95 percent council voting majority that approved the no confidence motion.
“When you have a 95 percent vote of no confidence against you by the party’s national council, I would say the case is over,” he said. “However, Dr Didi does not want to accept this.”
Ghafoor claimed additionally that the issue of former President Nasheed’s leadership role in the party was “not controversial” and had been agreed by the MDP council on February 8.
“During a MDP National Council resolution passed on February 8, we have always maintained that this government – [President Waheed’s administration] illegally came to power,” he said. “We believe that Nasheed remains our legitimate president and leader and will continue to do so for the full five year-term he was elected.”
The issue of legitimacy over the no confidence moiton against Dr Didi has been divisive during the last month. The India-sponsored all-party talks were stalled yet again as government-aligned parties raised the issue of legitimacy of the MDP’s present leadership.
However, Ghafoor alleged that Dr Didi’s main support as president of the MDP comes from government-aligned political figures such as former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM). He went on to question the long-term success in relying on rival political organisations to support one’s candidacy.
“I think Dr Didi should not count on Gayoom’s supporters to back him [for the MDP presidency],” Ghafoor claimed.
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Good move, indeed, good advice Jewish Ruder Finn PR to Muslim dictators : pay off Didi (and Alhan) to apply all possible tricks to delay both inquiry and restoring democracy. Congratulations, if it Rudest Finn was not paid with the money cut of health care for common people, doubling prices for fuel, waiving tax dues to fat resort owners, typo's of STO, and of course as finishing touch an insane judge who made repeat a 10 yo kid the sexual abuse in front of court and defendant ... you are in pretty good company, Didi ... enjoy the crows
MDP blokes are like programmed zombies. they have to parrot what is drilled from the dear leaders PR team. Anybody who refuses to parrot is expelled. Sad to see MDP reduced so low 🙁
“We believe that Nasheed remains our legitimate president and leader and will continue to do so for the full five year-term he was elected.”
Mr Ghafoor, you're ridiculing yourself! Nasheed resigned infront of everyone on live television. He gave his resignation speech, smiled and walked off into political wilderness. How can he be the legitimate president?
Although the current regime is illegal and has no constitutional basis, Nasheed cannot claim he is the President either! The fact of the matter is that, currently, we do not have a legitimate President of the Republic. That is why we need elections right now.
Didi...you must be mad. Do you honestly think we care about what happens to you?
Really, (and it makes me laugh here) think for a second. It would not be hard. You got it. We DO NOT care shit about you.
Man, Just how stupid can some people be...
@Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb
I don't think Hamid can say this any more clearly than he has said. Which part of it do you not comprehend?
From what Dr Didi has said and is doing, we can see why the MDP Council passed a no confidence vote against him. Dr Didi clearly does not agree with the MDP Council resolution passed on the 8 February denouncing the forced resignation of President Nasheed, and the resolution that President Nasheed is the legitimate President of the Maldives.
If he does not agree with majority opinion, then he is the dictator, don't you think? Whatever you or I may think of the MDP Council decision is irrelevant. The MDP Council is the party's policy making body. And the decisions of this body are the party's position. Dr Didi should have honoured that. Instead he challenged that. So what is he saying? That he recognises Dr Waheed as President? And expect MDP to accept that? Where is his head?
According to the MDP constitution the President of the Maldives if elected on an MDP ticket is the Leader of the party.
One has to be part of the machinery to influence opinion, agitate outside the machinery and you achieve nothing.
Dr Didi is achieving nothing except portray himself as a petulant tantrum throwing adolescent. Grow up Dr Didi.
Surely he can see that what he is saying effectively is that his election as President is null and void. I stand to be corrected, but from what I have told, the constitution that he refers to in his tantrum with MDP Council ALSO stipulates that the President and Vice President of the party will be elected by Congress.
Dr Didi voted in favour of the Feb 8 resolutions during the qaumee majlis meeting at Dharubaaruge in front of hundreds of supporters. The resolution adopted by the MDP national council on Feb 8 recognizes President Nasheed as the party's leader.
Didi was elected party President with my vote too. He however did not stand against President Nasheed, who was elected by the party as the presidential nominee in the primaries.
When circumstances changed after the President was deposed, Didi wrongly believed that he represented the party over Nasheed. As party president he should have stood behind the deposed president in this crucial traumatic period rather than take an opportunistic shot at power within the party. It really did not matter if he was acting legally or not, it was in bad faith.
The Gaumee Majilis voted him out. Which was the democratic way to remove an elected official in any organization.
The Gaumee Majlis voted with confidence that the MDP rank and file members and supporters would back their decision. If the mood was for Didi, they would not vote him out and destroy support for the party.
I'm sure they did not take this decision lightly, neither would they take it if they felt that ordinary members were against it. After all it would be political suicide for a democratic party to go against the sentiment of their own members.
If I was unsatisfied with the Gaumee Majlis decision, I'd leave the party. I suggest MDP members who don't agree with their decision to leave the party as well. This will send a message to the Gaumee Majlis and truly shape party policy in line with the wishes of its members.
Mohamed on Sat, 19th May 2012 9:57 PM
"Which part of it do you not comprehend?"
Since you appear to have not read what I said, I'll repeat again. Ghafoor claimed:
“We believe that Nasheed remains our legitimate president and leader and will continue to do so for the full five year-term he was elected.”
If my comprenehsion of the English language serves me right, Ghafoor is under the impression that Nasheed is still the President of the Republic of Maldives, and therefore the leader of his party.
Ghafoor (along with his party council) must be living in the "other Maldives", since those of us who live in the more mundane Maldives saw and heard the resignation of Nasheed from the Office of the President of the Republic. There were no guns pointed at him, no razors at his throat and was telecast live from the Office of the President, for the whole world to see and hear.
Nasheed gave a brief message outlining his reasons for the resignation. There was no mention of undue force, influence or anything of that sort. Legally, that constitutes a wilfull resignation of the Office of the President of the Republic of Maldives, and therefore he forfeits his automatic leadership of his party too, as far as I understand his party's rules and regulations.
I don't see any legal challenges being mounted by Nasheed or his party regarding the matter of his resignation. Just because a particular group of people refuse to believe in an event doesn't mean that the event didn't take place!
So, which part of this have I failed to "comprehend"?
DR.Didi your a good dentist. i wish u will continue your work and u just forget about MDP.
"Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb on Wed, 8th Feb 2012 5:09 AM
This was definitely a military coup. The President was forced to resign and he resigned to save the blood of the citizens of this country. You can clearly see this, as blood was shed by these so-called Police as they beat up citizens and members of parliament infront of everyone.
This was the threat to the President: either you resign, or we’ll go and massacre every single MDP supporter in the country! Waheed is trying to save his skin by paying lip service to his masters in the military and police. It’s clear where the orders are coming from now."
You also said that, that's where I fail to comprehend. What's changed? Fickle much?
No wonder!! People who do not have public support usually leave no stone unturned to get some goodies from else where, Election Authority , Courts, High Court, Supreme Court, Fat Business Men and road side hooligans and thugs too. Dear Didi, it is shame on you, a young,educated, energetic and of course handsome person from a respectable ADDU family, going from one institution to another for a case you can never win in your favour. If you choose to be a political player, learn from the world history how the influential rulers get the support of the masses. Probably Maumoo did study it in Egypt while Anni did it in UK. But in Russia you studied some thing very different, Dentistry ??
Take a breath!! Learn to speculate, be a shaker, mover, mobilizer and then get the support of the masses. It has all to do with peoples' sentiments.
Ameen
@Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb
All of that you have said in response to my comment, Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb, is irrelevant to this matter. Like I said, what you or I or anyone has to say about what happened on 7 February is irrelevant.
The MDP took a position that President Nasheed was forced to resign under duress and that it was a coup and that they don't recognise the new government.
As I wrote earlier, the MDP Council passed a resolution on the 8th February 2012, that the MDP Council does not accept Dr Waheed as President and that as far as MDP is concerned President Nasheed continues to be the elected President of the Maldives.
As another writer has stated, Dr Didi went along with this decision.
From where I look, Dr Didi should have toed the party line. And if he did not want to do that, he should have spoken up at the Council meeting, and if no one listened to him, I see only two options that were available for him, if he did not like the decision of the MDP Council, he should have resigned or left the party.
What he did instead was to challenge the decision of the MDP Council i.e. made the announcement that he does not recognise President Nasheed as the President of the Maldives. How did he think he was going to continue to be Party President after that?
What's so complicated about this, Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb ??
@Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb
I forgot to add,
I don't think you have a problem comprehending English, I think where you are struggling is recognising the stand that the MDP has taken regarding the resignation of President Nasheed.
You are entitled to your view and opinion, but as it happens, your view and opinion regarding what happened on 7 February is not the view and opinion of the MDP Council.
Its not that hard for us to get that, but you clearly are finding it difficult to see that.
I suggest you have a good think about it.
I do beleive 'Juha' should be the president of MDP. Maldives Democratic Party is like a Juha story, every one will love it.
@Mohamed on Sun, 20th May 2012 11:57 AM
"I think where you are struggling is recognising the stand that the MDP has taken regarding the resignation of President Nasheed."
Mohamed, my struggle is something else. If MDP has such a strong belief that Nasheed was deposed by illegal means, why don't they challenge that on a legal basis?
You'll probably say that MDP doesn't recognise any Courts in the country too! That would make the Maldives a lawless country, if MDP doesn't believe in the authority of any legal body. Is that where MDP stands?
MDP seems to pick and choose when to appeal to the law and when not to. When MDP realises they don't have a legal case, they refuse to accept the authority of the Courts. This pattern has been repeated many times over the past 3.5 years.
You were joking right, when you said President Nasheed should seek legal action to challenge his removal from office.
Legal action through our courts??? lol
Can't believe you said that.
Sad, very sad. But there is hope. Our people have woken up and more and more people are closing their ears and minds to the rubbish you just wrote.
Looks like you lost your way.
@peasant on Sun, 20th May 2012 10:48 AM
"You also said that, that’s where I fail to comprehend. What’s changed? Fickle much?"
I've spoken to people on both sides, heard and seen a lot of what went on since 7th Feb. As a result, I've come to different conclusions than I had earlier.
Afterall, this isn't religion and one can revise beliefs on new information. If you're a scientist, you'll know about the importance of that.
@Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb
My comment was addressed to you , by the way.
My dear Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb, the MDP Council made its decision according to what they believed, saw and heard. So what if what you saw , heard was different?
I am a bit puzzled why you are continuing this line of discussion.
Really odd.
The the available facts point to a straight forward coup. What's up for debate is the level of pre planning (if any) and the identities of those involved.
For arguments' sake even if the events were not pre planned, it still is a coup. They took advantage of a spontaneous disintegration of order or they engineered the events to usurp power.
I would love to know more about this new info you have.
Look guys. Anni had the opportunity to explain to the whole world that he was forced out of office, when he gave his resignation speech. However, he didn't. Why didn't he? If anything happened to him or his family or anyone else as a result of what he said on that day, then there would be thousands of Maldivians up in arms in support.
I don't much care about what one drinks; be it Sula Shiraz or Zam Zam. I judge people solely by their deeds.
Don't worry so much about this, Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb , we will find out why he did that after the enquiry.
I did ask why you were carrying on with this conversation, that last sentence tells me why.
Good, now we know where you stand. All this to discredit President Nasheed and MDP.
Just know this, Ahmed bin Addu bin Suvadheeb,you are delusional if you think this is just going to go away. It isn't. We will continue to stand for justice and we will not be walked over, not now, not ever.
This is war, we know it, you know it. Something has to give, this time. and let us hope that out of this will emerge a people grounded in the values of Islam, upholding the principles of integrity, service,justice, and love for another.