It Cannot Be Claimed That The Indian Agreements Were Shared With 241 Committee: MP Ali Hussain

MP Ali Hussain (JP-Kendhoo) said that it "could not be said" that the military treaties signed between India and the Solih administration were disclosed to the members of the Parliament Committee on National Security Services. MP Hussain is a member of that committee.

The Presidential Chief of Staff, Ali Zahir, had appeared on national television and had claimed that the military agreements had been taken to the Parliament Committee on National Security Services and had been shared with the members of that committee.

Responding to a question from Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, MP Hussain had said that he did not believe that showing screenshots of the agreements on a PowerPoint presentation meant that the agreements had actually been shared with the Committee-members. He said that it was important for the members to receive copies of the agreements, and be given a reasonable amount of time, so that their contents may be studied.

"Just by showing a glimpse of it is not a good way for members to look into what's in the agreements. I believe that any decision on whether the agreements do, or do not, pose a threat to national security can be made after thoroughly studying the agreements. The interpretation of documents of this nature can change entirely with the alteration of a single word", said MP Hussain.

MP Hussain further mentioned that the way the Indian military agreements were shown to the Committee was unlike the way any such documents had ever been presented to the Committee before. If documents were to be presented that way and debated over, then bills presented to the Majlis could also be shown via a PowerPoint presentation prior to being voted on and passed.

Despite MP Hussain's statements, the Committee; which has a majority of ruling-party parliamentarians; had decided that none of the agreements posed any threat to national security.