Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has stated that the Presidential Assets Recovery Commission is not looking into any country, but rather the alleged corruption of the previous government.
Minister Shahid made these remarks regarding a news article published on Reuters. The article entailed that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih formed the commission in order to investigate whether there had been any corruption involved in Chinese investments to the country during the previous administration.
In light of this, Shahid said that the news agency was misinformed and that the commission was not formed to look into any country. Instead, they would be launching an investigation into the alleged corruption of the preceding administration, he said.
Indicting Minister Shahid, the Reuters article stated that the Minister had said that the previous government accepted foreign investments irresponsibly, and that the matter was being closely evaluated by the Presidential Assets Recovery Commission. Further, that the reality of these issues would soon be revealed.
While Shahid denied the implications on Reuters, he had also previously denied Associated Press (AP)'s news article on how the Minister had revealed a decision to "restructure" the country's debt to China.
AP noted that Shahid said the government was struggling with debt repayment, and discussions were being held with China to solve this issue and restructure debt. Denying this, the Foreign Ministry released a statement indicating that Minister Shahid had not made any such comment.
He spoke on how the previous government had irresponsibly accumulated debt, the statement said. Further, the Minister said that Maldives - China relations were at a pinnacle point where they could discuss any subject, and that the current government hoped they could take these relations to new heights.
