The Office of President Mohamed Nasheed strongly condemns the willful attempt by the Government to intimidate democratically elected Members of Parliament.

A day after an attempt to frame Hon. Abdulla Jabir, MP and Hon. Hamid A Ghafoor, MP, over the weekend, another attempt was made on Sunday, by the Government to intimidate two Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Members of Parliament, Hon. Ali Azim, MP and Hon. Mohamed Nashiz, MP. A Court Order was issued instructing the police to arrest them and to summon them to Court at 1300 hrs at which time Monday’s vote to make no confidence motions a secret vote in Parliament is scheduled.

“At a time when many Members of Parliament have been beaten up by the police and the security forces, no action taken on the perpetrators and at a time when one Member of Parliament has been brutally murdered and no one has been held accountable, it is absolutely imperative that votes on no confidence motions in Parliament is taken by secret vote” said Mariya Didi (MP), Spokesperson for President Nasheed. She further said, “President Waheed came to power by brute force and employs methods of harassment and intimidation to stay in power. It is difficult to believe the Court Order for the arrest of two MPs Hon. Azim and Hon. Nashiz at the time the vote is scheduled is a coincidence and proves the allegations made by a huge section of society that the Courts are politicized”

The office of President Nasheed strongly condemns the acts of violence and methods of intimidation employed by the Waheed administration on democratically elected Members of Parliament and calls on President Waheed to end harassment and intimidation of Members of Parliament.

The Office of President Nasheed reiterates it’s call for early elections to put the country back on track on democratic governance.

ENDS