Male: Ahead of the parliamentary polls in the Maldives, the opposition parties have demanded a probe and impeachment of President Mohamed Muizzu following the leaked report of his alleged corruption from 2018, a charge dismissed by him.
Elections to the Majlis are to be held this week and the atmosphere has been vitiated by the trading of charges between the main opposition the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC). Local media reports have highlighted that the political storm started on April 15 with an anonymous handle ‘Hassan Kurusee’ posting 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 Service that allegedly linked President Muizzu to corruption.
“These reports, dated circa 2018, claim irregularities in money transfers to President Muizzu’s personal bank account, highlighting 10 critical red flag indicators of financial misconduct. These indicators suggest involvement with politically exposed persons, embezzlement, structured transactions, and the use of corporate entities to hide fund origins,” news portal Maldives Republic (mvrepublic.com) reported.
The allegations soon created a political storm with several reactions pouring in on various social media channels. News portals and newspapers, however, tread with caution. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and People’s National Front (PNF) demanded an investigation into the matter.
Former Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed urged Muizzu’s impeachment following the leaked intelligence reports. Taking to his social media handle X, Jameel reposted these documents, emphasizing the need for accountability at all levels of governance.
Apart from demanding Muizzu’s impeachment, Jameel, a senior member of the Progressive Party of Maldives, “also accused President Muizzu of extensive corruption in his flagship Ras Male development project and alleged excessive spending on public relations. Jameel has called on President Muizzu to cooperate with independent investigations into these allegations,” mvrepublic.com said.
The news portal also claimed that this was the first time an FIU report was leaked and said, there has been no official confirmation or response from government bodies regarding the legitimacy of the reports or the allegations.
Adhadhu.com reported that President Muizzu responded to corruption allegations declaring that the opposition “cannot show any wrongdoing on his part regardless of how far attempts to implicate him are taken” and also accused the opposition of leaking the reports out of desperation.
