Maldives Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem, who was appointed by the previous government, was attacked in Male, local media reported on Wednesday. Shameem has been injured after he was attacked on a street in the capital city, SunOnline International reported.
Hours after an attack on the Prosecutor General, the largest opposition party in the island nation accused President Mohamed Muizzu’s administration of protecting criminals. “Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem was attacked on a street in Male City. He is receiving treatment for his injuries at the ADK Hospital,” Sun.mv, a news portal, said. “The alleged close ties between top government officials and criminal gangs were resulting in open violent assaults on top state officials,” the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in a statement said.
“Preliminary findings establish that he was not attacked with a sharp-edged weapon,” the spokesperson added. This incident comes as the main opposition announced its plan to impeach Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu this week. However, the government has approached the Supreme Court over the recent amendment to Parliament’s standing orders which makes the process of impeachment easier.
Political Upheaval
The Attorney General’s Office filed the case on Sunday, the same day when clashes broke out in the House between pro-government MPs and opposition lawmakers following differences over the approval of four members of his cabinet. The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which holds a majority in the Maldivian Parliament, on Monday, had stalled approval of three members of President Mohamed Muizzu’s cabinet.
The three ministers were, however, re-appointed by Monday evening. The row over the three ministers started after seven lawmakers resigned from Parliament in November, to assume top positions in Muizzu’s administration. But the Elections Commission decided against holding by-elections as the parliamentary elections are scheduled for this year, online news portal Sun.mv reported on Tuesday. The main opposition MDP then amended Parliament’s standing orders so that vacated seats aren’t counted when determining the total number of MPs.
MDP-Democrats Alliance
Parliament currently requires 54 votes to impeach President Muizzu, instead of the previous 58, as, according to the amendment to the standing orders, the total number of MPs is now 80, instead of 87. Last week, the MDP and the Democrats announced an alliance to work together in the Parliament to hold the government accountable. The MDP and Democrats, have 56 MPs between them; 43 MPs from MDP, and 13 from Democrats. They now have the power to impeach the president.
Earlier on Monday, a lawmaker from MDP confirmed the party had gathered enough signatures to file an impeachment motion. But the party has not yet submitted it. Pro-China Muizzu, 45, defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September last year. On January 24, calling India the most long-standing ally, the MDP and the Democrats expressed concern about the Muizzu government’s anti-India stance.
(With agency inputs)
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