Maldives parl impeaches Vice Prez

Maldivian Vice President Ahmed Adeeb under arrest over an alleged attempt to assassinate President Abdulla Yameen was on Thursday impeached by the Parliament in an extraordinary session after approving the controversial 30-day state of emergency.

Sixty one lawmakers out of the 85 present during the session voted in favour. The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) lawmakers boycotted the vote.

Fifty-seven votes were required to impeach the vice president. The parliamentarians debated on the no-confidence motion filed against Adeeb, 33, for two hours before it was put up for vote, Haveeru newspaper reported.He is the second vice president to be impeached in less than six months. Adeeb became Vice President in July after the impeachment of his predecessor Mohamed Jameel, who had fallen out of the president’s favour.The Parliament held the extraordinary sitting hours after endorsing a month-long declaration of state of emergency declared by president Yameen on Wednesday, saying the explosion and subsequent discovery of arms posed a threat to national security.

The declaration of emergency came ahead of a planned protest by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) aimed at pressuring Yameen to release its leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed from jail after a widely criticised conviction under anti-terror laws.