Supreme Court re-seats MPs Mohamed and Shahudhee
The court’s full bench issued the verdict at separate hearings on Tuesday
MP Mohamed Abdulla, one of the 12 MPs unseated by the Elections Commission
Supreme Court has ruled to re-seat Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Abdulla and Hanimaadhoo MP Hussain Shahudhee.
The court’s full bench issued the verdict at separate hearings on Tuesday.
Last year, the Elections Commission declared the dismissal of 12 MPs from parliament for violating a floor-crossing ban. While the commission recently reversed its decision, the Supreme Court refused to abide by it since the court has already begun the appeal process. Because of this, the commission’s attorneys defended their original decision to unseat the MPs at the appeal hearings.
At Tuesday’s hearings, the defendants argued that they resigned from Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) before the Supreme Court announced the implementation of the floor-crossing ban on 13 July 2017.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled to re-seat two other dismissed MPs and made the same ruling on the rest of the ousted lawmakers on Monday and on October 8. Therefore, all 12 MPs are now free to return to their duties and attend parliamentary sittings.
