President Abdulla Yameen and the ruling party’s ‘beseiging’ of parliament is reason enough to vote against him in the upcoming elections, says vice-presidential candidate Faisal Naseem.

Naseem said this at the Joint Opposition rally in Meedhoo island of Raa atoll on Sunday night, adding that eroding legislative powers is infringing on citizens’ right to be represented.

On the Elections Commission’s disqualification of MP Mohamed Ameeth, of the Maduvarri constituency which includes islands in Raa atoll, Faisal said that the lawmaker had worked to represent his constituents at the People’s Majlis, Maldives’ unicameral parliament.

MP Ameeth, who ‘worked tirelessly’ according to Faisal, along with 11 other lawmakers dismissed by the commission were done so for aligning themselves against the government and Parliament Speaker Abdulla Maseeh, who has been described as a ‘rubber stamp’ to President Abdulla Yameen, Faisal said.

Faisal, himself the parliamentarian representing the Kaashidhoo constituency, said that the state’s dismissal of his fellow lawmakers aligned against the government is wantonly detrimental to the public and condemned it as being disregardful of citizens.

The Joint Opposition candidate said that dismissing the 12 lawmakers, who were reinstated by the Supreme Court in a ruling that went unenforced and was later overturned after the controversial arrests of two of the court’s justices, robbed 60,000 citizens of their right to parliamentary representation.