The ruling People's National Congress (PNC) campaign spokesperson has expressed concern over the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party's (MDP) not taking any action after the leak of statements from alleged rape victims of former Tourism Minister Ali Waheed, who is running for Parliament on an MDP ticket.
Speaking at her daily press briefing at the PNC office, Heena Waleed said the MDP government also failed to take adequate action against several cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault that surfaced at the time.
"Many sexual assault and rape cases of Ali Waheed surfaced before and the PG [Prosecutor General] took back the cases. But we want to question whether it's in line with the party's principles to go ahead without saying anything about it when it has surfaced again?" Heena said.
The election of a person accused of rape to Parliament would pose a danger to female MPs, Heena said, noting that the MDP also has a women's wing.
"MDP hasn't said a word at all on any such thing. It's notable that they loudly advocated against such things over cases in the past," Heena said.
Ali Waheed had been appointed as Tourism Minister on a Jumhooree Party (JP) slot. He was accused in 2021 of sexually assaulting female staff at the ministry.
The cases emerged when 13 employees of the Tourism Ministry went to the President's Office with the Gender Minister at the time and told the President about Ali Waheed's sexual assaults. Former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih wept when he heard the stories, the media reported at the time.
After the investigation, the PG office filed charges against Ali Waheed, who left the country for medical treatment after the trial started.
In August that year, Ali Waheed was arrested in England over violations of the UK's immigration law. He was released after a temporary detention. The British government later determined the arrest to have been unlawful and apologized to Ali Waheed.
While he was in the UK, the alleged victims of rape and assault withdrew statements provided as evidence against Ali Waheed, after which the PG office withdrew the court cases. Ali Waheed returned to the Maldives in July last year after the charges were dropped.
Ali Waheed was not involved in politics immediately after his return and focused on sports. However, as the presidential election approached, Ali Waheed worked as a campaign agent of JP candidate Qasim Ibrahim.
Ali Waheed joined the MDP on December 7.
