The main ruling People’s National Congress Party (PNC)’s top lawmaker says there’s an urgent need for a proper investigation to uncover the last Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) administration’s “embezzlement” of public funds, adding that the country must be “saved” from MDP.

During Wednesday’s debate on the state debt bill submitted by the government, Inguraidhoo MP Ibrahim Falah said it is important that the current and future Maldivian generations understand past administrations’ treachery with regard to the country’s finances.

The PNC parliamentary group leader said the Maldives needs to think hard about government spending and debt.

He blamed the MDP administration, which held office from 2018-2023, for the current situation.

“The people need to think hard before electing MDP. Them coming to power is a frightening prospect. Look at how the country needs to make USD 1 billion in debt repayments in 2026 because of them. And what did they do to repay debt? The extent of their incompetency is that they took on more loans to repay the loans taken by previous administrations. They couldn’t come up with any plan to boost revenue. The only thing they did was to increase the overdraft,” he said.

Falah said that the MDP administration did nothing to boost state revenues in the five years it held office.

He said that the country must therefore identify and properly investigate the former administration’s alleged corruption, adding that the Parliament must also join in these efforts.

Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa, a lawmaker from the main opposition MDP, responded that it was clear “even from books” that the reason for the rise in debt during the last administration was because of the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The claims being made here today are pure slander, and diverting the blame for the debt situation on the previous administration. We, too, would solve the debt crisis if we had come to power. It’s just pure slander here today. Is this the vision for the 20th parliamentary assembly?” he said.

The state debt bill, sponsored by Funadhoo MP Mohamed Mamdooh, was submitted to the Parliament on June 25.

The key components of the bill include:

• Policies on incurring debt
• Policies on debt management
• Policies on disclosure of information and reporting on state debt
• Policies on debt incurred by local councils and state corporations
• Policies on issuance of sovereign guarantees

The bill is part of fiscal reforms announced by the government to combat high public debt, and improve the country’s economy.

Source(s): sun.mv

Main opposition MDP’s chairperson Fayyaz Ismail states the current administration is withholding the details of the number of political appointees in contrary to the pledge made in this regard during the presidential election.

Fayyaz, via a post on X, said the ruling PNC’s dominated parliament kicked out the emergency motion submitted by North Galolhu MP Meekail Naseem demanding full disclosure of the number of political appointees, as the administration continues to withhold the information, in violation of the pledge made during the presidential election.

MP Meekail’s emergency motion demanded the full disclosure of the number of political appointees in addition to the spending on salaries by state-owned enterprises.

He accused President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu of using the powers vested in him under Article 115 of the Constitution to make “unchecked and excessive” political appointments to government institutions, and of appointments to state-owned enterprises being made in a similar “unchecked and excessive” manner.

The current parliamentary assembly, where PNC holds the supermajority, rejected the motion by a 56-11 vote.

Fayyaz, who served as the Economic Minister during MDP’s administration, added that Maldives’ economy had taken to its current direction due to mismanagement by the current administration and as they have lied and misled the public.

Speaking at a press conference by MDP regarding Maldives’ declining economic state – Ibrahim Ameer, who served as the Finance Minister during the party’s administration, alleged the incumbent administration has made over 2,000 political appointments, spending MVR 700 million on monthly salaries.

The large number of political appointments by President Muizzu, who during his 2023 presidential campaign promised to limit such appointments to 700, has sparked criticism against his administration, as has the refusal to disclose the exact number of political appointments.

On Thursday, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced the rollout of measures to cut the state’s recurrent expenditure, including reducing the number of political appointees, and reducing the spending on or canceling official events.

Source(s): sun.mv

China on Tuesday called on Israel to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law and respond to the international community’s calls to ensure the rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.

During his remarks at the UN Security Council briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has been exacerbated by extreme shortages of essential supplies and dire health conditions.

Fu noted, “millions of people are struggling with hunger, disease, pain, and despair,” describing the situation as a man-made humanitarian disaster and a serious violation of international law.

He pointed out that Gaza has been under a blockade for nine months, forcing over 2 million people to live in an “open-air prison” and depriving them of adequate access to water, electricity, food, medication and fuel.

Fu criticized the closure of the Rafah crossing due to Israeli military operations, which has resulted in thousands of trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies waiting in long lines.

“The existing crossing points are far from being able to meet the demand for humanitarian aid,” Fu said, emphasizing that land transport routes are key to expanding humanitarian access.

Fu also addressed the obstruction of humanitarian supplies and the challenges faced by humanitarian workers, who often encounter unreasonable difficulties and accusations.

He condemned the repeated attacks on facilities of humanitarian agencies and noted that over 200 humanitarian workers have died in the conflict, calling this “unprecedented in history and shocking.”

Reiterating that “hunger cannot be weaponized, humanitarian issues cannot be politicized,” Fu described the man-made exacerbation of the humanitarian disaster as”unacceptable.”

He urged Israel to ensure the “rapid and safe entry of humanitarian supplies at scale into Gaza,” and to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.

The council’s adoption of Resolution 2720 aimed to expand humanitarian access, yet its implementation has fallen short.

Fu called for an examination of the reasons behind this and urged the concerned parties to work harder to remove obstacles to the large-scale entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Fu concluded by emphasizing that the fundamental way to alleviate the humanitarian disaster is through a lasting ceasefire and the early relaunch of the two-state solution.

He called on the international community to continue efforts toward this end and supported the council in taking further necessary action.

Source(s): CGTN