Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has been served a 14-day notice to respond to the no-confidence motion against him at the Parliament.

The notice period has been served ahead of the debate on the motion and was announced by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament Eva Abdulla during Monday's parliament session.

Opening the session today, Deputy Speaker Eva noted that the no-confidence motion was submitted on May 18th. Hence, as per the requirement, a 14-day notice has been served to the Foreign Minister ahead of the debate.

The no-confidence motion was submitted to the parliament by the 12 members who had left MDP alongside the opposition members. They had alleged that Shahid was negligent in how the maritime boundary dispute with Mauritius was solved.

The opposition members had also submitted a no-confidence motion against Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath as well, for which he was served a 14-day notice on May 18th.

According to the Constitution and the parliament regulations, a no-confidence motion can only be submitted with the signatures of at least 10 parliamentarians.

It also states that the minister should be given a 14-day notice to respond before the debate begins, adding that the minister holds the right to defend themselves verbally or through a written medium.

After a two hour debate, the no-confidence motion could only be passed with a majority vote of the parliament.