Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), during Thursday’s sessions, challenged the Mohamed Muizzu administration to disclose details of how the almost MVR 50 billion budget passed for 2024 was spent.
Speaking during deliberations to consider the 5.1 billion Supplementary Budget proposed by the Muizzu administration, MP for South Galolhu, Meekail Ahmed Nasym [MDP], declared that the legislative body had become a rubber stamp and effectively a desk of the President’s Office — the Parliament currently hosts an administration-aligned supermajority.
Earlier, during the Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration, the MDP had a supermajority, but the Parliamentary process more transparent, Nasym claimed.
“However, we were acting in a manner such that the people would see both sides and the statistics would be transparent. The Public Accounts Committee in Parliament also presented the statistics to the people every year, and every time a supplementary budget was presented,” he said.
According to Nasym, the biggest concern surrounding the presentation of a supplementary budget was the lack of accountability on how the allocations were spent.
MP for Hanimaadhoo, Abdul Ghafoor Moosa [MDP], concurred with Nasym, saying that while the largest budget in the nation’s history had been completely depleted, due consideration should be given to why additional funds were required.
According to Moosa, budgeted projects were not being implemented while expenditure had been unprecedentedly high; even the manner in which funds were utilised could not be ascertained.
“I am talking about a budget of MVR 50 billion being spent [completely]. It feels small saying it out loud, Honourable Speaker. But if you laid it [the money] out on the Parliament’s floor, there would be no space left; we would need to put the rest outside… [How the money was spent] cannot be ascertained by the Public Accounts Committee. It cannot be ascertained by Parliament,” Moosa said.
Moosa further stated that the country was in its current predicament and that the state had reached its low point due to the administration’s failure to implement cost-cutting measures.
The Ministry of Finance acknowledged that the largest portion would be spent on PSIP projects, as the previous administration had failed to properly account for all aspects of implementing such projects. Of the MVR 5 billion Supplementary Budget, MVR 2 billion, according to the Ministry, has been allocated for PSIP projects.
Expenditure on PSIP had been higher than what was budgeted, as the 2024 National Budget was less than realistic considering the number of projects that needed to be funded, the Ministry said.