Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusaan blamed the former government when he was allowed to defend himself from a no-confidence motion after the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) submitted fake forms to the Elections Commission (EC) to increase its membership.
At Tuesday's People's Majlis sitting, Ihusaan said the issue of fake forms is not new and alleged the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of submitting fake forms to boost its membership from 2018 to 2023.
"I want to say this is an issue that has been happening since 2014 by stealing and selling people's data from DNR [Department of National Registration]. MPs are aware that this data is being used during elections," he stated.
He blamed former Technology Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jameel for failing to take action despite announcing measures to stop information leaks from the DNR database in 2019.
"If he had taken those measures, this would not have happened today," Ihusaan said.
He also used a photograph of former First Lady Fazna Ahmed filling out a form for the MDP and several other photographs while speaking in his defense in the People's Majlis on Tuesday morning.
Ihusaan said he instructed political appointees under the Home Ministry to fill out 15 forms each to recruit people to the PNC. He added that it is wrong to fill out forms for political parties inside institutions such as the DNR.
He said instructions have been given to ensure that no such work will be done in any institution under the Home Ministry in the future.
Twelve MPs from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) signed the motion against Ihusaan.
In addition to the issue of fake membership forms, the issue of handing over the Expat System to Malaysia's Bestinet company and alleged influence over police investigations was mentioned in the motion.
