The government’s perceived inability to penalize MP Mohamed Nasheed, who refused to vote on a motion important to the government, is weakness, says MP Mohamed Musthafa.

MP Musthafa said in a post on his Twitter account, which he typed out in Dhivehi, that the incumbent president has been discouraged from meddling in the affairs of parliamentarians.

Musthafa’s comments are supported by the fact that the party Nasheed is aligned with, the Progressive Party of Maldives, had issued a three-line whip on the matter.

The vote in question has to do with last week’s vote to extend Maldives’ state of emergency by an additional 30 days, in addition to the initial 15-day period announced earlier this month.

Nasheed had attended the sitting for the vote but had abstained from voting on the matter. The party has decided not to penalize him for violating the whip.

Musthafa’s narrative follows that of the allied opponents to incumbent President Abdulla Yameen, that the government has selectively penalized and isolation parliamentarians opposed to him.

This too is supported by the Elections Commission to unseat 12 lawmakers on the grounds of floor-crossing, all of whom are aligned against the ruling coalition.