Motion to dismiss prosecutor general forwarded to committee

The People’s Majlis has forwarded to motion to dismiss Prosecutor General (PG) Aishath Bisham, to the judiciary committee for further review.

The motion was sent to the Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed, by the same committee; to be presented by the speaker’s desk, as per Article 210 of the Majlis regulations. Article 210 states that such matters regarding officials at government institutions must be presented by the speaker, and sent straight to committee review without deliberations.

While the judiciary committee began work to dismiss the PG earlier, it had decided to halt the work. Hinnavaru constituency MP Jeehaan Mahmood, also a member of the judiciary committee, had said that the work was halted due to procedural issues.

While the impeachment motion had been proposed to the committee, Jeehaan made the proposal to pause the impeachment motion as a number of members were absent from the meeting, as well as due to the fact that their input is important to conduct such an enormous task. The MP had stressed the importance “of following procedures.”

PG Bisham was appointed to the post in November 2015, by former President Abdulla Yameen. She had previously served as a legal affairs secretary at the president’s office, as well as the special advisor to the president.

She also faced various allegations since then, including allowing the government to influence the PG Office’s work.

She denies the allegations, saying that neither then President Yameen nor anyone else had influenced her work, and added that her decisions were made “independently and without bias.”

The current opposition describes her as “a political sellout.”