Malé, Maldives – Maldives’ Homeland Minister, Ali Ihsaan, announced today that he will submit a case to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against leaders of the previous government. He accused them of negligence in failing to resolve the agreement with Malaysia’s Bestinet company, which was set to develop the Maldives’ expatriate system.

The minister’s statement came during his parliamentary summons, where he responded to a no-confidence motion submitted by 12 Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members. The motion accused Ihsaan of multiple offenses, including the decision to halt a local company’s expatriate system in favor of Bestinet, a company that had been blacklisted.

Financial Dispute Over Bestinet Agreement

The no-confidence motion claimed that the agreement with Bestinet, which required an annual payment of MVR 460 million, resulted in financial losses, whereas the local system could have been profitable. In response, Ihsaan clarified that the agreement originated in 2015 during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, with a 15-year contract. The implementation was paused in 2019 following a decision to stop bringing workers from Bangladesh.

Ihsaan presented parliamentary documents detailing the previous government’s involvement with Bestinet, contradicting claims that no official demands had been made. Key correspondence included:

Ihsaan criticized the previous administration for failing to act, stating that the government could have benefited significantly from the expatriate system’s revenue. He noted that the new system would generate MVR 1.3 billion annually, an increase from MVR 700 million under the prior system.

“We had to move towards this system because we could raise the annual revenue from 700 million to 1.3 billion rufiyaa by going to a proper new system. These people said the state would lose 400 rufiyaa. I’m saying the state will gain over 500 million rufiyaa more,” Ihsaan asserted.

Corruption Probe Initiated

Ihsaan argued that the opposition’s allegations of financial losses were misdirected, as it was the previous government that failed to capitalize on the agreement. As a result, he confirmed that he would request the ACC to launch a criminal investigation into former government leaders for neglecting to resolve the agreement over five years, causing significant financial losses to the state.

The case is expected to have major political and legal implications, as it highlights the ongoing tensions between the current and former administrations regarding governance and financial decisions.