Maldivian Democratic Party *MDP) MP Abdulla Jabir has threatened he will leave the MDP if Speaker of parliament Abdulla Shahid remains in the party.
Jabir’s comments came after the parliament forced Housing Minister Ahmed Muiz to leave the parliament when he came to attend a Finance Committee meeting to which he was invited.
Speaking to local media, Jabir said that although the current government was not legitimate the Speaker of parliament should inform him before forcing the Housing Minister to leave as Jabir was the Chair of the Finance Committee.
Jabir told the media that he wanted to meet the Housing Minister to clarify how the government was spending the budget as the government has expired at 12:00am today.
He also said the MDP should decide if they wanted Shahid or him and said that if MDP wants Shahid he would resign from the party. Jabir told the media that he would discuss the issue with Nasheed.
Housing Minister Muiz was asked to leave the parliament by the Sergeant-at-arms after MDP MPs complained to the speaker that there was no legal ground for Muiz to be in the parliament representing the Housing Ministry, following the expiry of President Waheed’s term.
The Speaker of Parliament has also sent a letter to President Dr Mohamed Waheed informing him that his term as president expired at midnight, and that he was no longer in command of the country.
As there is no other way to extend presidential term, the speaker informed Waheed: “The presidential term which began on 11 November 2008 ended on 10 November 2013 and the term cannot be extended unless the procedures laid out in Article 262 are followed.”
The Speaker also sent a similar letter to Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz, Chief of Defence Forces Major General Ahmed Shiyam, Elections Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek, Human Rights Commission of the Maldives President Mariyam Azra, Civil Service Commission President Dr Mohamed Latheef, Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizz, Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim, and Anti corruption Commission President Hassan Luthfy.
Jabir is well known for his frequent defections from party to party. His first political party was the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) during the presidency of Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. He then joined former party of PPM Parliamentary Group leader MP Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the People’s Alliance (PA).
Jabir defected to the JP ahead of the 2008 presidential elections and backed JP leader and business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim, and wass appointed the party’s deputy leader.
He then went on to join the MDP and hold senior positions within the party. He also announced his intention to contest for the MDP chairmanship.
However, during the protests following the detention of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed, Jabir once again declared that he had defected from MDP back to the JP.
In the meantime Jabir’s wife, former SAARC Secretary General Dhiyana Saeed, also resigned from her position in SAARC and joined the opposition movement against former President Mohamed Nasheed.
Jabir became an MP after winning the by-election held to elect an MP to the vacant seat of Kaashidhoo constituency on a JP ticket. He was backed by President Waheed and a coalition of parties supporting his government.
The PPM who initially had their own candidate for the election also backed Jabir. He rejoined MDP in December 2012.
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