Hisaan submits motion to parliament alleging two ministers acted in violation of Constitution

A motion has been submitted to Parliament alleging that Minister of Economic Development Mohamed Saeed and Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusan have acted in contravention of the Constitution of Maldives.

Thulhaadhoo MP Hisaan Hussain from opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) submitted the issue to Parliament today under Article 179 of the Parliament Regulations.

She stated that there are currently 139,220 work permit holders from Bangladesh in the Maldives as per the Foreign Labour Statistics and Expat System Report. She said that as per the laws, the highest number of expatriates that can be brought to work in Maldives from a single country is capped at 100,000.

Hisaan said that on December 17, 2023, Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusan had announced that persons from Bangladesh can be brought in to Maldives as unskilled labourers, pointing out that this is against Article 65(a) of the Employment Act.

Hisaan alleged that the Economic Minister had acted in bad faith as, when public complaints arose regarding the Homeland Security Minister's announcement, the foreign labour report had been removed from the Economic Ministry's website, as well as twitter account.

"The Minister may issue quotas for employment of expatriates in the Maldives, grant the permission for expatriates to work in the Maldives, issue work permits for the duration of employment in the Maldives, as per the regulation enacted under this Act," Article 65(a) of the Employment Act reads.

The issuance of quotas, permissions and related work fall under the mandate of the Homeland Security Ministry. However, making regulations necessary for the implementation of the Employment Act falls into the mandate of the Ministry of Higher Education, Labour and Skills Development.

MP Hisaan claims that as long as it is not explicitly stated in the Employment Act, the responsibilities stipulated under the Act cannot be divided between two ministries. She said that the President does not have the legal power to transfer the powers granted by the Act to the Minister currently mandated with regulating employment issues to another Minister of his choosing.

The MP said she is submitting the issue of the two ministers having acted in contravention of the Constitution while the Constitution clearly states that all cabinet ministers must abide by the Constitution and laws.

A vote was taken in parliament to decide if the issue should be raised for debate on the parliament floor. While 23 members voted in favour of debating the matter, 6 members voted against.