Malé, Maldives – Maldives Reform Movement (MRM) has stated that it was best to take a decision on the allegations against Shimaaz Ali, Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation after relevant authorities have investigated the matter properly.
While some local medias have reported that Transport Minister Aishath Nahula has sent a letter to the president requesting Shimaz to be removed from his post, Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s party issued a statement yesterday saying that it is not right to take a decision on the allegations against Shimaz until relevant authorities had investigated the matter.
The MRM said in a statement that the party has always advocated against corruption but a decision on Shimaz’s case should be taken after a proper investigation by the relevant institutions.
The statement said that while Shimaz is facing serious charges, the next involved and the extent of the incident will be known after a full investigation. MRM said the party would take a decision on Shimaz after giving him an opportunity to answer.
The Transport Ministry has recently canceled the registration of some vehicles after several cases of illegal vehicle registration surfaced. However, the court has stopped some of the announcements.
There have been serious allegations against Shimaz in the past and the case has been investigated by the ACC.
In 2021, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigated a case against several senior Transport Ministry’s bid committee members including Shimaz, involving the award of a contract to Versagio to manufacture machine-readable license plates.
The prosecution decided not to prosecute Shimaz last year due to lack of evidence.
