Parliament’s general purpose committee has passed a motion stating that a no-confidence motion against speaker and deputy speaker can only be submitted with the signatures of 42 lawmakers.

A committee meeting was held on Sunday evening, hours after opposition lawmakers resubmitted a no-confidence motion against speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, with the signatures of 31 MPs.

Nine members voted to pass the motion, with members of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) walking out on the vote, except for MDP’s Mohamed Rasheed, who opted to vote against it.

Those who walked out are; MP for Thoddoo constituency Ibrahim Hassan; MP for Felidhoo constituency, Ahmed Marzooq; and MP for Wast-Maafannu constituency Mohamed Falaah.

While the motion will now be submitted to the parliament floor, if passed, it will make the no-confidence motion submitted against the speaker invalid. However, it will not affect the no-confidence motion submitted against deputy speaker Moosa Manik.

Speaking at a press conference held by the parliamentary group of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Fonadhoo constituency MP Abdul Raheem Abdulla said they will do ‘whatever is necessary’ to stop the vote against Maseeh.

Also at the press conference, MP for Villimale constituency and parliamentary group leader of PPM, Ahmed Nihan said that they will 'call for a roll call vote again, if such a circumstance arises".

Maseeh had survived the no-confidence vote on March 27.