MDP to Submit No-Confidence Motion Against Minister Ali Ihusaan

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has decided to submit a no-confidence motion against the Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, Ali Ihusaan.

This decision follows allegations that the minister misused data from the Department of National Registration (DNR) to inflate the membership of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) through the submission of forged membership forms.

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The opposition made this decision during a Parliamentary Group meeting. Leaked images have surfaced showing DNR employees extracting personal information to fill out party membership forms. One such image reportedly shows the minister overseeing the process. The opposition claims that these forged membership forms were submitted to the Elections Commission of Maldives (ECM) under the minister’s supervision.

A no-confidence motion against a cabinet minister requires the signatures of at least 10 MPs. If the motion receives a majority vote in parliament, the minister will be dismissed. However, the MDP has only 12 sitting MPs in the current 20th parliament assembly.

In a related development, it was revealed on Monday that MDP member Hussain Ziyad, the sitting Vaikaradhoo MP, had been enrolled as a member of the ruling party without his knowledge. Hassan Zakariyya, a member of the ECM, confirmed the incident in an interview with ‘Sun’ Online, stating that the commission had discovered that Ziyad’s name had been added to the PNC’s membership list without his consent. Following an emergency meeting, the EC re-registered Ziyad with the MDP.

When questioned about whether Ziyad could lose his parliamentary seat, Hassan clarified that the commission does not believe there is any reason for the MP to lose his seat, as the change in membership was not voluntary on Ziyad’s part.