Meekail Ahmed Naseem, a lawmaker from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was ejected from the chamber on Tuesday morning as Home Minister Ali Ihusan presented his response at the Parliament over a no-confidence motion lodged against him by the main opposition party.
The no-confidence motion against Ihusan was submitted last month with the endorsement of the 12 lawmakers who represent the MDP at the Parliament. The party has accused the home minister of repeatedly flouting the country’s law, including the allegation that home ministry’s officials used the private information of citizens at the Department of National Registration (DNR) to drive up membership at the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).
Ihusan attended the parliamentary sitting on Tuesday morning to present his response to the allegations.
During the one-hour Ihusan was given to make his statement, Meekail, who represents the South Galolhu constituency, repeatedly interrupted him by raising points of order.
Ihusan claimed that between 2018 and 2023 – some 520 people were admitted to the then-ruling MDP using fake forms.
“Was it I who was home minister at the time?” he asked.
Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusan responds to a no-confidence motion against him at the Parliament on February 25, 2025. (Photo/People’s Majlis)
Meekail raised a point of order and pointed out that ministry officials were pictured filling out the forms inside a meeting room at the DNR, and that Ihusan himself was pictured overseeing the work.
“The difference is that back them, the home minister himself wasn’t filling out forms at the DNR premises,” said Meekail.
Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla interrupted Meekail, and said a point of order cannot be raised to simply respond to Ihusan’s remarks.
Meekail continued to interrupt Ihusan by raising points of order, before Abdul Raheem announced Meekail’s name and asked him to leave the chamber.
But Meekail refused to leave, and was later escorted out of the chamber by the security.
In addition to the use of privileged information to fill out PNC forms, the MDP also accuses Ihusan of exerting political influence over the police service to repeatedly obstruct criminal investigations and prevent the police from performing their legal duties.