Minister Calls for Investigation into MDP Officials Over Expat System Failures

Home Minister Ali Ihusaan has announced plans to file a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to investigate officials from the previous administration over alleged negligence in the case involving the expatriate system used to manage information on foreign workers in the Maldives.

The announcement was made during yesterday’s parliamentary sitting, where Ihusaan responded to a no-confidence motion submitted against him in January. The motion, backed by 12 lawmakers from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), alleged that the Minister had halted the implementation of an expatriate management system developed by a local company and instead handed over the work to Malaysia’s Bestinet, a company facing serious corruption allegations.

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MDP argued that the locally developed system was designed to be maintained at a lower cost using domestic infrastructure. The opposition claimed that outsourcing the system to Bestinet resulted in financial losses for the state, constituting a criminal offence under Article 517 of the Penal Code.

Ihusaan rejected these claims, stating that the system was not exclusively developed by a single Maldivian company but had been worked on by various administrations since 2012, with multiple parties involved. He noted that the system’s development remained incomplete and that the government could not afford to spend five more years on the project.

The Minister highlighted that delays in finalising the system had hindered efforts to address the country’s longstanding migrant crisis effectively. He argued that the focus should be on ensuring timely and secure services for Maldivian residents rather than being tied to an unfinished system.

According to Ihusaan, as the government prepared to procure a new system, Malaysia’s Bestinet issued a ‘Last and Final Notice’ claiming the Maldivian government owed it USD 13.7 million. The letter was sent to the President’s Office, Maldives Immigration, and the Economic Ministry on 24 December 2024, and to the Home Ministry on 18 January 2025.

Following a review of related documents, Ihusaan stated that the current administration had uncovered severe negligence by the previous MDP-led government. As a result, he revealed plans to seek a criminal investigation into all implicated officials from the former administration under Article 517 of the Penal Code, citing failure to resolve the issue and financial losses incurred by the state.

During the parliamentary session, Ihusaan disclosed the relevant letters and documents, stating that MDP lawmakers could have requested copies rather than spreading misinformation.

He also noted that the government expects to generate MVR 927 million in annual revenue from the new expatriate system. The upgraded system would include biometric identification, fingerprint collection, and facial recognition features, with enhanced server capacity to ensure nationwide accessibility.