The parliament floor early Friday approved the 241 Committee's inquiry report into the May 6 attack after a seven-hour debate.
Speaker of the Parliament and former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed was taken to ADK Hospital in Maldives' capital Male' on the night of May 6 after he sustained serious injuries in an explosion near his residence in Male'. According to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), the blast occurred when an IED strapped to a motorcycle was detonated. Multiple critical surgeries were performed on Nasheed at ADK Hospital, and he is currently in the United Kingdom for further treatment after recuperating from his injuries in Germany. The parliament's 241 committee launched an inquiry into the attack following the incident.
Thursday's parliament sitting commenced at 08:30 pm and went on for over seven hours before concluding around 04:00 am. The sitting dragged on well into the night as almost all members of the parliament debated on the inquiry report. The report was passed after the debate with the votes of 58 members.
The committee's report on the May 6 attack was publicized on Thursday evening. The report highlighted several acts of negligence that led to the attack, and further directed blame at Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi as Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb had alerted the Defence Minister that a funded attack was being targeted at Nasheed prior to the attack. The report also directed criticism at Home Minister Imran Abdulla for failing to conclude work on the Anti-Terrorism Act. During the debate, several members criticized both ministers and called on the government to take necessary action based on the findings of the report. Criticism was aimed at the government mostly by MPs loyal to NAsheed.
The report said the inquiry committee was informed by Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) that those arrested in connection to the attack were those of extremist ideology and that the motive behind the attack, and those who funded the attack remain unknown. Some members expressed concern that no progress was made in finding the motive and those behind the attack even after a two-month investigation.
As per the information collected by the inquiry commission, such an attack can be carried out by completing three critical stages: intent, capability, and access, the report noted. In this regard, gaining access to Nasheed was a critical step in successfully executing the attack, and the only measure that could have prevented such an attack was preventing access to Nasheed, the report said. In this regard, if Nasheed's drop-off and pick-up points were swept and cleared with police assistance, and electric countermeasures were taken to ensure his safety, the May 6 attack could have been prevented, the report further said.
The 241 committee summoned several top officials from Maldives National Defence Force and Maldives Police Service, as well as individual officers from both institutions over the past few weeks for its inquiry. 49 individuals were summoned including Home Minister Imran Abdulla. Over 80 documents with over 5,550 pages were researched by the committee. 45 recommendations on how to improve MNDF and intelligence work were included in the 271-page inquiry report prepared by the committee.
