Malé, Maldives – Member of Parliament representing Naifaru constituency Ahmed Shiyam stated that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih should be suspended instead of removing the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Shiyam said this regarding the discussions on increasing the time period for the suspension of Article 32(a),(d),(e) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act as requested my Finance Minister Ameer.
We should not be suspending the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s various [letters of] articles. We should suspend the president, as he is the one placing debt on Maldivian citizens.
Ahmed Shiyam, MP of Naifaru Constituency
Shiyam added that he had observed councilors getting suspended by the Local Government Authority (LGA) when they had failed to pay the current bills of the council, and when the country cannot pay its bills the President should be suspended. Shiyam also questioned whether the President did anything else except put more citizens in hunger, when articles of the Fiscal Responsibility Act were suspended since last year April 26.
The parliament is currently debating whether to extend the overdraft period for the MVR 4.4 billion extended by another year to the government by Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) bypassing Article 32 (a)(b)(e) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, as requested by the government.
Finance Minister requested the extension citing that Maldives has not been able to overcome the negative impact on the economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and for the end date to be extended until 26 April 2022.
