Home Minister's dismissal motion to be placed on agenda after work on state budget

The People’s Majlis is to move ahead with a no-confidence motion against Home Minister Imran Abdulla, as soon as it concludes work on the proposed State Budget 2021.

While the parliament’s general-purpose committee announced its decision on the minister’s impeachment motion at Monday’s sitting, it has decided to allow Imran 30 minutes to respond to the allegation against him in the motion submitted by the opposition back in October.

The committee had decided to allocate two hours for the debate on the motion; Imran will receive 10 minutes of response time at the beginning of the debate, the middle, and the end.

While the speaker did not set the motion in the agenda, he said that this will be done after concluding the ongoing work on the proposed budget for next year.

11 lawmakers signed the no-confidence motion, and seeks to remove Imran as Home Minister following comments made regarding two of the highest profile murders in the country’s recent history.

The motion notes that during on a radio talk show at Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu, the minister had given a different recount on the murder of former parliamentarian Dr. Afrasheem Ali, as well as revealed that documents regarding the ex-MP’s murder and journalis Ahmed Rilwan’s murder were inaccurate, during the May Day protest.

He is to have claimed that the documents on evidence in connection to Rilwan’s murder were confiscated by the Maldives Police Service, while speaking at a parliamentary sitting on October 21.

The minister also came under fire for derogatory remarks made in connection to the safari rape case, recently. He is to have said that the incidents on the safari cannot be deemed a “rape” but something “minor” that could have happened.

This led to public criticism, with some questioning his responsibility as a Cabinet Minister and claiming that women’s right cannot be ensured with him remaining at a ministerial position.

However, the minister had later apologized for the remarks, claiming that they were misunderstood.

According to the People’s Majlis guidelines, a no-confidence motion against a minister may be submitted with a minimum of 10 signatories. The motion was submitted in accordance to Article 101 of the Maldives constitution, which states that “a motion expressing want of confidence in a member of the Cabinet may be moved in the People’s Majlis, under the hand of at least ten members, specifying the reasons.”