SC ruling against revoking anti-defection law does not mean MPs lose their seats

While the Supreme Court has ruled against revoking the anti-defection bill, the Joint Opposition has said that this ‘does not mean that 12 parliamentarians will lose their seats’.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday night, Kendhoo constituency MP Ali Hussain said that the anti-defection law ‘has no connection to the seats of the 12 lawmakers’, adding that Tuesday’s ruling does not state that they have lost their seats.

Noting that the bill was proposed to parliament and passed because of a possible no-confidence motion against incumbent President Abdulla Yameen, the MP said that it was done ‘tighten the grip’ on the remaining MPs in the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Also speaking at the press conference, Maldivian Democratic Party’s parliamentary group leader, MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that ‘the court had, in its ruling on 1st February, made a very clear decision’ on the fate of the 12 MPs seats. However, the 12 lawmakers continue to be barred from sittings, after the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction to delay the reinstatement of the MPs, after a request by the attorney general’s office.

MP Solih further appealed to the court to make a clear ruling on the matter.