Male: The motion submitted by MP Ahmed Usham (Vilimalé) requesting that copies of the classified military agreements signed with India be disclosed to members of the Parliament Committee on National Security Services was rejected by the Committee.
The Committee, where the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party has a majority, came to the conclusion that there was “nothing wrong” with the agreements by the vote of 7 members.
The agreements regarding Uthuru Thila Falhu, the hydrography scan, and the Dornier aircraft had all been submitted to the 241 Committee by MP Adam Shareef (Maduvvaree), vice-president of the opposition People’s National Congress.
The Ministry of Defence and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) did not provide copies of any of the agreements to the Committee, but rather provided screenshots and excerpts included in PowerPoint presentations. The members of the Committee did not attempt to verify if these excerpts or screenshots were truly from the actual agreements under inquiry.
MP Usham had said that he wished for the Committee to peruse copies of the agreements prior to coming to any conclusions regarding the nature of those agreements. He also pointed out that it was impossible to understand the individual articles of the agreements as no copies had been provided.
MP Usham said that there should not be any agreement that is so secret that it cannot be shared with the 241 Committee.
MP Ali Hussain (Kendhoo) had been in favour of the motion submitted by MP Usham requesting copies of the agreements. The motion was rejected by the majority of the Committee. The Maldives Journal
