Ex-VP Jameel was ousted under false pretenses: MP Abdulla Riyaz

MP Abdulla Riyaz said on Sunday that parliamentarians had been shown fake message threads before they voted to impeach former Vice President Mohamed Jameel Ahmed from office.

MP Riyaz said, while speaking on a show broadcasted by Raajje Television, that the ‘entire country’ now knows that then Vice President Jameel was ousted on ‘false pretenses’ through having spread fake messages – made to have allegedly been sent through instant messaging application Viber.

MP Abdulla Riyaz at Raajje Television's 'Fala Surukhee' program on Sunday night, 6th August 2017

The parliamentarian had cited this to be the reason that he and those who share his party allegiance had refused to support the impeachment in 2015. He further added that the parliament’s decision on the matter had been wholly ‘unconstitutional’.

Riyaz went on to say that after having presided over the ousting of two Vice Presidents – the second being Ahmed Adeeb, who is now serving a long jail sentence – and three Defence Ministers, President Abdulla Yameen has effectively isolated himself and lacks any credible guidance.

“Parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh was elected with 43 votes in favour of his appointment to that position. Now, 45 members have expressed their disapproval – if Maseeh had any integrity, he would step down immediately” Riyaz said, in reference to the allied opposition parties’ bid to advance a motion of no-confidence against the speaker.

Moreover, Riyaz had also commented on the status of the judiciary – insinuating that ‘judges have initiated an ongoing agenda’ to prosecute members of the opposition in order to cripple ‘anyone who stands against the policies of the current administration’.

He then focused on the events that unfolded on July 24th, where a number of opposition parliamentarians had entered the parliament premises while security officers had it on lock-down. MP Riyaz said that police officers entering the parliament to forcibly remove sitting parliamentarians and using pepper-spray to quell objection was an unlawful act.

“Many of the police’s senior officers took leave when the integrity commission pursued a probe into the matter, this shows that they themselves want to deny involvement in the acts that happened that day” he said.

MP Riyaz said that the opposition will hasten its reform efforts once parliament session continues, adding that they remain perseverant ‘no matter what the obstacles are’.