Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail on Thursday, December 22, has said that the opposition party does not see any reason why consent should be given to the Minister of Cities, Local Government and Public Works Adam Shareef.
The opposition's comments come in the wake of widespread public criticism of the current administration for its decision to block two websites, citing that they were operating without registration.
Fayyaz, who is the former Minister of Economic Development, said that the first-ever incident of military raid into the parliament chambers was during Shareef's tenure as the Minister of Defense. Fayyaz alleged that Shareef had now begun efforts to restrain the freedom of expression by coercing the Communications Authority of Maldives.
"Decentralization system has been extended to Fushidhiggaru as well, so we do not see any reason to give consent [to Shareef]," Fayyaz said.
The Communications Authority of Maldives was transferred under the mandate of the Ministry of Cities, Local Government and Public Works under the current administration.
The government blocked both 'kurusee.com' and 'dhiyavaru.com' citing the two websites operated without registration. Both the websites have been harshly critical of the incumbent government led by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
After granting consent to the ministers, the Parliament's Government Oversight Committee forwarded the cabinet members' names for parliamentary approval last week. However, the parliament reverted the issue back to the committee, citing that the mandates of the government bodies have not been passed.
A meeting of the Government Oversight Committee was scheduled for Saturday, December 23, to make a decision on the cabinet ministers' consent report which had been cancelled over lack of quorum.
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