Muizzu in trouble: Some ruling party MPs back opposition to impeach Maldives President

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu appears to be in trouble as some of the ruling party MPs have expressed interest in working with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Democrats to remove him from office. The MDP, the largest party in the People's Majlis (Parliament) with 42 members, is working with The Democrats to impeach Mohamed Muizzu.

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On Wednesday, MDP Deputy Chairperson Ahmed Abdulla said that some MPs from the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) have expressed interest in working with the opposition to remove the President. "Is there [interest] from people from other parties in impeaching the President? It is there even now. And we believe that this will be done with the support of people from the government," he said while responding to a question from Maldives-based news outlet Adhadhu.

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The news organisation reported that 34 MPs have signed the President's impeachment motion so far. But they do not include any pro-government MPs, MDP said on Tuesday. The MDP and the Democrats together have 56 MPs in the 87-member Maldives Parliament, according to Sun.mv. The Constitution of Maldives allows for the impeachment of the President with 56 votes.

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However, some changes were recently brought to Parliament's rules of procedure concerning the impeachment process. According to the amended rules, the total membership of Parliament would be the number of sitting MPs. Instead of considering the total membership to be 87 MPs, the number was brought down to 80 MPs, Adhadhu reported, adding that the rule change shifted the majority and brought down the number of votes needed to impeach the President.

The opposition's move to impeach the President came after MPs from the ruling coalition obstructed Parliament sittings over the decision to reject some ministerial appointees.