The opposition coalition parties have decided to nominate Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim as the parliament speaker after removing current speaker Abdulla Maseeh.

The opposition’s joint parliamentary group made this decision without much debate in a meeting on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the opposition also decided to begin work on nullifying the anti-defamation and anti-defection laws, including submitting a motion to annul the Anti-Defamation Act on Thursday.

President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and vice-president-elect Faisal Naseem had joined the meeting at the JP headquarters.