Ministry of Defence has said that CCTV footage showing the placing of "Solih Party" and "Maldives Military Party (MMP)" signs outside the office assigned to Jumhooree Party (JP) at the parliament offices has been lost.
Defence Ministry said that since a lot of time has passed since the event, the footage is no longer available.
Committee on Members' Privileges and Ethics is currently investigating the incident which was brought to their notice in July, 2021. After a long interval, the committee has held a meeting today.
Committee Chairperson MDP MP Mohamed Raaee shared today that the Defence Ministry has stated the footage is no longer available due to the passage of time.
The Ministry had sent this letter to the committee one month after the incident had occurred, in August 2021. According to Raaee, the committee had not held a meeting since then.
Thinadhoo South MP Abdulla Saneef opined that the duration between the incident and the request for footage does not justify unavailability of footage on account of 'passage of time'.
He added that there needs to be a clear instruction on a duration for which security footage at the parliament must be maintained. He said this was a matter pertaining to the security of members of parliament.
He said that while in this instance the matter may involve a sign on a door, there was a need to investigate how the footage had gotten lost or destroyed in such a short period of time. He stated that this must be undertaken in the interests of protecting majlis members and staff even in any future incidences that may arise.
Nolhivaram MP Mohamed Nasheed Abdulla also called for further investigation into the matter, saying that this was a clear case of negligence.
He proposed that Ministry of Defence be summoned to the committee and be held answerable to the matter.
Committee chairperson stated that a decision on the matter will be taken at the next committee meeting.
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