Malé, Maldives – Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions, on Thursday, approved the dismissal of the incumbent members of the Anti-corruption Commission (ACC) with majority votes.
The decision to dismiss all the incumbent members of the ACC was made following a performance audit amid public criticism of delayed corruption investigations.
Over 300 investigations have been delayed for three years. 1600 cases are pending.
Parliamentary Committee on Independent Institutions
All members of the committee, excluding Vilimalé representative Ahmed Usham voted in favour of the dismissal. The members of the ACC voted to dismiss are, ACC President Mariyam Shiuna, Vice President Aminath Anoola, members Ibrahim Shakeel and Aishath Abdulla. The fifth member of the ACC Ali Ashraf resigned last week.
The motion to dismiss ACC members was lodged at the committee by the parliamentary representative for Inguraidhoo constituency, MP Hassan Ahmed, and sponsored by the parliamentary representative for Bliehdhoo constituency, MP Ahmed Haleem.
Committee member and MP for Gan constituency stated that ACC is not using the authorities granted by the laws to the commission to the fullest extent. He noted that ACC members did not express confidence in investigating larger cases like the MMPRC corruption.
ACC has previously expressed concerns that there are not enough staff to conduct investigations.
The recommendation to dismiss will be sent to the parliamentary floor following which the members will make a decision.
