Maldives ex-president Nasheed nominated as new Speaker

In Maldives, former President Mohamed Nasheed has been nominated as speaker of new parliament or Majlis which will hold its first sitting today. 

Mr. Nasheed, who leads the  Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) was unanimously elected speaker by its newly elected MPs last night. 

MDP had won a record 65 out of 87 seats in parliamentary elections held last month.  

Mr. Nasheed after his nomination said that the 19th parliament proceedings will be lawful and that the public will see a difference. 

The former President said that he accepted his nomination after considering the difficult situation within the party and out of respect to the wishes of



party MPs. 

His comments came as there were reports that party was headed for a split as five MPs including two strong contenders had shown interest for the post of speaker. However, both of them proposed the name of Mr. Nasheed during the MDP meeting. 

Another MDP MP Eva Abdulla has been nominated for the post of deputy speaker. 

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih congratulated both saying that he looks forward to work with the new Majlis on behalf of all Maldivians. 

Meanwhile, the newly elected MPs will take the oath of office today. As per the constitution, the new MPs are supposed to elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from its members by secret ballot.