Tender Board chair makes corruption claims against MRM deputy minister

A deputy minister at the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation representing ruling coalition partner, Maldives Reform Movement (MRM), has been accused of corruption by Chairman of the Tender Board, Ismail Zariyand.

Zariyand made the accusation via Twitter on Monday, tagging former president as well as MRM's leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, to his tweet.

He asked the former president to ensure action against the male deputy minister holding an MRM slot at the transport Ministry, emphasizing that he was engaging in corruption and exhibiting a clear disregard for the law. However, Zariyand did not reveal the identity of this individual

While Zariyand identified the recipient of these allegations as a male deputy, there are two political appointees for MRM holding the position at the Transport Ministry; Hidhaya Naseer and Shimaz Ali.

The MRM leader responded to Zariyand's tweet on Tuesday, asking him to send details of the allegations to MRM Office.

In addition to this, Zariyand went on to recognize that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has been working tirelessly to serve the people, and accused a number of political appointees of working to further their own political agendas.

He went on to say that such people were taking advantage of President Solih's patience and called for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Ministry of Finance to investigate such parties and present the case officially to the President's Office. He also said that officials who have engaged in corruption in the past are using the coalition as an "open road" to settle back into abusing the powers of public office, and that these people are exerting using the benefits of their positions to exert influence even within investigative bodies.