Majlis sitting without vote on Prosecutor General's dismissal, unacceptable: MP Shah

Holding a parliamentary sitting without a vote on the no-confidence motion submitted against Prosecutor General Aishath Bisham is unacceptable, says North-Fuvahmulah MP Ali Shah.

MP Shah, a member of the Jumhooree Party’s parliamentary group, said this in response to the government coalition’s decision on Thursday to hold an ‘extraordinary’ sitting while the session is in recess.

Shah said in a tweet on Friday that he is vehemently against holding a sitting without a vote on the matter, and highlighted the importance of ensuring independence of state institutions, and hold those ‘that dismissed parliamentarians unlawfully’ accountable.

A no-confidence motion against the prosecutor general was submitted in late November, by South-Thinadhoo MP Abdulla Ahmed.

Bisham, due to having been at the helm of the PG’s Office, has been accused of supporting politically motivated criminal charges against former president Abdulla Yameen’s rivals.

After the ‘political crisis’ instigated by President Yameen’s arrest of Supreme Court justices in February, reports surfaced of Bisham’s estrangement from the Yameen administration.

In March, amidst reports that the Progressive Party of Maldives is seeking to have her dismissed through parliamentary votes, Bisham was seen leaving the President’s Office. No such motion had then been submitted.

Responding to photographs of Bisham and then Home Minister Azleen Ahmed standing outside the President’s Office, former attorney general Husnu Suood said that it is unacceptable for an individual in her position to be in such a position, and that she must remain free of any influence.

Last year, two public prosecutors, one of them being a member of the team that pushed the terror charges against former president Mohamed Nasheed, resigned and went public with complaints about Bisham's handling of the PG's Office.