Male:
Ahead of parliamentary elections in the Maldives, opposition parties have demanded an investigation and impeachment of President Mohamed Muizzu over the leaked 2018 report on his alleged corruption, a charge he has rejected.
Majlis elections will be held on Sunday and the atmosphere has deteriorated following the exchange of accusations between the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Muizzu's People's National Congress (PNC).
Local media reports have highlighted that the political storm started on Monday with an anonymous post from 'Hassan Kurusee' on social media. X leaked intelligence reports, including documents prepared by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Maldives Monetary Authority and the Maldives Police. who allegedly linked President Muizzu to corruption.
“These reports, dated circa 2018, allege irregularities in fund transfers to President Muizzu's personal bank account, highlighting ten critical red flags of financial misconduct. These indicators indicate involvement with politically exposed persons, embezzlement, structured transactions and the use of corporate entities. to hide the origins of the fund,” reported news portal Maldives Republic (mvrepublic.com).
The accusations quickly caused a political storm, with several responses flooding in on various social media channels. However, news portals and newspapers are cautious. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the People's National Front (PNF) demanded an investigation into the matter.
Former Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed pushed for Muizzu's ouster following the leaked intelligence reports. Jameel used his social media account X and reposted these documents, emphasizing the need for accountability at all levels of government.
In addition to demanding Muizzu's ouster, Jameel, a leading member of the Progressive Party of Maldives, also accused President Muizzu of extensive corruption in his flagship development project, Ras Male, and alleged excessive spending on public relations. Jameel has called on President Muizzu to cooperate with independent investigations into these allegations,” said mvrepublic.com.
The news portal also claimed that this was the first time that an FIU report was leaked and said that there has been no official confirmation or response from government agencies regarding the legitimacy of the reports or the allegations.
Adhadhu.com reported that President Muizzu responded to allegations of corruption late on Tuesday night, stating that the opposition “cannot demonstrate any wrongdoing on his part, no matter how far attempts to implicate him are taken” and also accused the opposition of the reports to leak out of desperation. .
“The same accusations were made during his campaigns for mayor and president,” he said, adding that the response would also be the same as before.
“While you are trying to force something on me like this, you couldn't do it before and you can't do it now. There is nothing you can prove against me no matter how far you go,” Adhadhu.com said. the president.
Atoll Times gave a detailed account of what President Muizzu said in his defense, including how he would “never compromise the rights of the people and that no matter how many such allegations are made, no one will be able to prove that anything happened in this way is done. .” “For the past five years the opposition was in government, if anything had been done wrong it would have been exposed,” Muizzu said.
“The President's comments came after the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the People's National Front (PNF) called on the relevant authorities to investigate the serious allegations against the President. But no government investigation agency has commented on the issue yet,” Adhadhu said. .com reported.
A total of 368 candidates will contest 93 seats in this year's parliamentary elections on April 21, according to media reports. The outcome of the elections will determine whether opposition parties can take action against President Muizzu, who took power in November last year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)