The Attorney General’s Office has said that there is no legal bar on the swearing-in of the President-electe Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

The Attorney General’s Office made the statement while representing the state during the first hearing of MDPs constitutional case filed in the Supreme Court, seeking to proceed with the case seeking the removal of Speaker Mohamed Nasheed.

MDP has filed the case in the Supreme Court seeking to interpret it in a different way as the Parliament interprets the rule that only the Deputy Speaker has the responsibility to preside over the no-confidence motion agenda.

Advocate Fathimath Haleem, appearing for the Attorney General’s Office, said there was no bar on the president-elect taking the oath of office in view of the pending case. This was because the matter was not considered to be too much of a problem for the Parliament to come to a standstill, the counsel said.

Attorney General’s lawyer Fathimath Haleem was responding to a question by Supreme Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir on the statement that article 42 of the Parliament Rules clearly states that no one else in the House can discharge the duties of the Deputy Speaker.

The Attorney General’s Office, appearing for the petitioner, argued that article 44(a) of the Rules of Parliament states that in the event that the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House are unwilling to preside over a session of the House, the members to preside over the session shall be appointed by the Speaker in accordance with Article 82(b) of the Constitution.

The Attorney General’s Office has sought a direction to the Parliament to declare that the provision of parliamentary rules was not properly interpreted in its decision. It has also sought a direction to declare that in the event of non-attendance of the Deputy Speaker of the House, the process of handing over the chair to the five members mentioned in Article 44 can be carried out with the procedure.