MDP to move for Minister Ihusan's removal over fraudulent party form case

Opposition members from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have voted to move for Homeland Security and Technology Minister Ali Ihusan's removal from office, alleging that the recent fraudulent submission of forms to inflate ruling party People’s National Congress (PNC) membership involved illegal access to the Department of National Registration's (DNR) database.

One of the MDP lawmakers reportedly has confirmed the party's parliamentary group decision to move for a no confidence vote against Ihusan.

While only 10 signatures are required to submit a no-confidence motion under parliamentary rules, MDP's 12-member parliamentary group lacks the numbers needed to successfully remove a minister from office.

According to MDP DNR's database was misused, and personal information was extracted from the database to register individuals as PNC members without their consent.

In a statement, MDP accused the minister of violating his oath by enabling the unauthorised use of personal data submitted to the government for official purposes. The statement also referenced previous leaked images purportedly showing political staff from the Homeland Security Ministry filling out membership forms for the PNC, and said this happened under Ihusan's direct watch.

The party has demanded Ihusan's dismissal, arguing that his continued tenure undermines the ability of law enforcement to conduct an impartial investigation into the matter.

Following the recent incident where MDP's Vaikaradhoo MP Hussain Ziyad was registered to PNC without his knowledge, PNC has also become the subject of mounting criticism for submitting fraudulent membership forms.

Since then, party has admitted to filing invalid forms during its membership drive.