Speaker of Parliament Abdul Raheem Abdulla lauded President Dr Mohamed Muizzu for the swift action taken by his Administration to clampdown on rampant corruption and abuse of power in the Maldives.
In an interview with "Dhivehi Raajjeyge Adu”, Abdul Raheem who is also the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) Chairman said the key to preventing corruption is to take swift action against perpetrators irrespective of their position or influence.
He also blamed the failure to tackle corruption by previous governments on the hesitancy to investigate and take action against senior government officials and close allies of former Presidents accused of corruption and abuse of power.
However, according to Abdul Raheem, President Muizzu’s unyielding action to weed out corruption from the country has changed the picture completely.
"Today you are seeing the dismissal of some of the managing directors appointed by President Muizzu. The laws are being strictly enforced. The cases of those appointed by the President are being investigated. The police are investigating these cases. This is the difference between previous governments and this government,” he explained.
Maldives has long battled with blatant allegations of corruption and abuse of power against senior State officials. However, out of the few cases that have been investigated, a handful of the perpetrators have faced justice.
Incumbent President Muizzu took office in November 2023 with the promise to do better, taking a Zero Tolerance firm stance on corruption and abuse of power.
Putting words into action, President Muizzu began a systematic overhaul of the country’s systems of governance and oversight to ensure complete transparency and accountability the public has been crying out for years.
Despite his best efforts, this Administration has now been rocked by allegations of fraud and corruption in the allocation of land and flats under the previous government’s housing scheme.
But true to his promise to the people, swift action has been taken in less than 24 hours the scandal came to light. Dozens of high level officials including the entire board of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) at the forefront of the scandal have been suspended.