Home Minister Ali Ihusan has announced plans to file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate the heads of the previous administration who were found negligent in the case involving expat system, used to manage the information of expatriate workers in the Maldives.
He made the remark while responding to the no-confidence motion against him at Tuesday’s parliamentary sitting.
The no-confidence motion was submitted back in January, with the endorsement of the 12 lawmakers who represent the main opposition MDP at the parliament.
MDP, in its no-confidence motion, claimed that the Minister, after a local company had developed an expatriate system to be used by the Immigration to manage the affairs of expatriates working in the Maldives, had put a stop to this and handed over the work to Malaysia’s Bestinet, a company facing serious corruption allegations.
MDP emphasized that the system developed by the local company was designed to be maintained through local systems at a lower cost. Therefore, transferring the oversight of the system to Bestinet resulted in a loss of benefit to the state, which constitutes a criminal offense under Article 517 of the Penal Code.
Ihusan denied the claims. In this regard, he explained that the system was not procured and managed by the government after being exclusively developed by a Maldivian company, but rather, was developed over the past 12 years by all administrations since 2012, with various parties being contracted for the project.
Home Minister Ali Ihusan responds to no-confidence motion at the parliament on February 25, 2025. (Photo/People's Majlis)
Ihusan, noting the development of the system was still ongoing, said the desired results have yet to be achieved. Nevertheless, he stressed that the government has no plans to exhaust time and resources for the development of the system for five years straight.
According to Ihusan, most essential works required to permanently resolve the longstanding migrant crisis in the Maldives have not been effectively carried out due to issues surrounding this system.
“How can we develop something that has not been developed in 12 years? Hence, I do not want us to be stuck on this system while disregarding services that should safely and security be provided to Maldivian residents in a timely manner,” he said.
The Minister detailed that the government received a letter titled ‘Last and Final Notice’ from Malaysia’s Bestinent as it prepared to resolve the issue by procuring a new system. In this regard, the letter was sent to the President’s Office, Maldives Immigration and Economic Ministry on December 24, 2024, while the letter was sent to Home Ministry on January 18, 2024.
Ihusan said the letter read that the company was owed USD 13.7 million by the Maldivian government.
Subsequently, he said the current administration reviewed related documents which uncovered severe negligence by MDP’s administration knowingly.
As such, he revealed plans to seek a criminal probe against all implicated heads of the former MDP administration will be sought from ACC in line with Article 517 of the Penal Code, over failure to resolve the issue within the past five years and for incurring a loss to the state where there was a benefit.
Notably, Ihusan disclosed the letters and documents in question. He stressed that the copies would have been provided to MDP lawmakers if requested, adding there was no need to circulate false information.
Prior to this, Ihusan stated that the government is expected to generate MVR 927 million in annual revenue with the new expat system.
He detailed that the system can be upgraded to the most preferred state including biometric identification, acquiring fingerprints from expatriates, and face recognition, with additional setups,
While noting the income generated from the system is state revenue, Ihusan said the server capacity will be increased to ensure the system is accessible across the Maldives.