Members of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) have tendered their resignations.
Commission members Mariyam Shiuna, Fathimath Anoola, and Aishath Abdulla resigned from the commission following the Parliament's Independent Institution Committee's decision to recommend the parliament to dismiss them.
A motion was submitted seeking to dismiss ACC members based on the finding of an audit report on their performance. Before the end of the Parliament term, the committee approved dismissing the members. However, the members wrote to the Speaker and requested to proceed with their termination as per protocol, following which a special sitting was held during recess. The case was once again forwarded to the committee. During a committee meeting held the same day, the members were granted five days to respond to the allegations against them.
A committee meeting was held on Sunday after the members submitted their written responses. During the meeting, the committee agreed that all ACC members must be dismissed and send a dismissal recommendation to the Parliament floor.
Speaking at the committee meeting, Inguraidhoo MP Hassan Ahmed said the responses received from the ACC members were the same responses the committee previously received and said adequate time had been granted to them. While they have been summoned to the committee on numerous occasions, he said they were also given the chance to rectify issues. However, no positive changes had been recorded, he added.
The MP said the audit report shows no discussions take place between ACC members and the investigation officers regarding backlogged cases, adding that the members have not been able to formulate an SOP to date. Therefore, these are grounds to seek their dismissal, he said.
Hassan's sentiments were seconded by Bilehdhoo MP Ahmed Haleem, who agreed that the members had been given adequate time. He noted that when the members were appointed to the commission, they were specifically asked to prioritize investigating the MMPRC graft. He added that ACC should have used its legal powers to summon members to expedite the case.
Five committee members - Hassan, Haleem, Velidhoo MP Mohamed Shafeeq, Baarah MP Ahmed Abdulla, and Gan MP Mohamed Visam- voted in favor of Hassan's proposition to dismiss the current ACC members. The two members that voted against the recommendation were Villingili MP Ahmed Usham and Isdhoo MP Ali Hameed.
Member Hameed said the ACC members' responses were received by the committee that afternoon and that the letters were over 22 pages long. While several legal points were made in the responses, he said more time is necessary to review the document properly. He asked for three additional days to further review the case. However, as the first vote on the agenda was on MP Hassan's proposition, which got approved, Hameed's proposition was not put to the vote.
Five members were on ACC when the parliament first initiated their dismissal, including Shiuna, Anoola, and Aishath Abdulla. The two other members, Ali Ashraf and Ibrahim Shakeel resigned from the commission ahead of the committee vote.
As per the performance audit, the commission had a large backlog, and several concluded cases were not forwarded for charging promptly. While 61 percent of cases that did not involve corruption were completed, only one percent was forwarded for charging. Although cases involving corruption were severely backlogged, the report said that ACC had successfully recovered only MVR 11,000 for the state.
