Thursday
25th Apr 2024
Dhivehi Edition
MP Mohamed Aslam the chair of the 241 committee and other members of the committee. Photo: TMJ
The Parliament Committee on National Security Services (also known as the 241 Committee) has concluded that there was “nothing wrong” with the military agreements that had been signed between India and the Solih administration.
The Committee, where the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party has a majority, came to this conclusion with the vote of 7 members.
The agreements regarding Uthuru Thila Falhu, the hydrography scan, and the Dornier aircraft had all been submitted to the 241 Committee by MP Adam Shareef (Maduvvaree), vice-president of the opposition People’s National Congress.
The Ministry of Defence and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) did not provide copies of any of the agreements to the Committee, but rather provided screenshots and excerpts included in PowerPoint presentations. The members of the Committee did not attempt to verify if these excerpts or screenshots were truly from the actual agreements under inquiry.
MP Adam Shareef Umar, MP Ghassan Maumoon (Guraidhoo), and MP Ahmed Usham (Vilimalé) had expressed their concern regarding the agreements and had posed several questions to the Chief of Defence Force, Maj Gen Abdullah Shamal, and the Minister of Defence, Mariya Didi.
The excerpts and the screenshots of the agreements had many striking similarities to copies of an earlier drafts of the agreements that had been leaked to The Maldives Journal earlier this year, indicating the authenticity of the leaked documents. Many had found the drafts to pose threats to national sovereignty.
The opposition has promised to scrap the agreements in the event they come to power.