News Desk
MALE — A General Committee meeting at 4pm today will set the formal terms for debate on the no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, the last procedural hurdle before a vote that will almost certainly end his time in the post.
The committee will decide how many members may speak, how long each gets and how much time Nazim will have to defend himself before the full House votes. Once those terms are fixed, the motion proceeds to a sitting of the Majlis where the outcome looks predetermined.
Seventy-three PNC members have signed the resolution. The party holds 76 of 93 seats. Removing the Deputy Speaker needs only a simple majority of members present and voting. The PNC does not need a single opposition vote to get there.
The resolution carries two charges. Abuse of office is the first. The second is that Nazim worked against the interests of the parliament and neglected his responsibilities to members. The motion states he grossly failed to protect the rights and privileges of all members and that his conduct actively obstructed the functioning of the Deputy Speaker’s office.
Nazim has 14 days from the filing of the motion to respond, and today’s committee meeting will determine exactly how that response plays out in the chamber. But with 73 signatures already on the paper, the debate is less about whether he will be removed and more about how much room he is given to make his case before the vote comes.
It would be the second time Nazim has lost the Deputy Speaker post. He was removed during the 17th Parliament as well. He won the role this term with 80 votes. Those votes, it turns out, were not his to keep.
