Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has accused Speaker of the People’s Majlis, Abdul Raheem Abdulla of seizing control of the government and “selling” top government positions.

The former president made these remarks while speaking at the ‘Front Office Gathering’ hosted by the People’s National Front (PNF) on Monday.

As such, Yameen asserted that Abdul Raheem, who also serves as the chairperson of the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC), has been offering top government positions on a silver platter, from an office set up at State Electric Company (STELCO).

Yameen claimed that Abdul Raheem promised to give an iPhone and a certain amount of money if someone becomes a deputy minister, and if someone becomes a state minister they would also be offered a certain amount of money. Further, he said the speaker has decided to offer a million U.S. dollars to those in positions like Zameer.

Expressing concern over the lack of action against many individuals on the list in the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) embezzlement scandal, Yameen said that only the Maldives Police Service (MPS) has the authentic list of people who took money from former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb Abdul Ghafoor.

Yameen questioned why the home minister, and the head of the police institution Ali Shujau are not revealing the list in such a sensitive case, asking if there are any secrets in the list or if there are any threats to national security.

The former president went on to make some serious allegations against the parliament speaker as well as President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, suggesting that their names might be on the list and questioning if that poses a threat to national security.

Further, Yameen stressed that the separation of powers in the constitution is “utter rubbish”, and that if people capable of monitoring whether it is functioning properly or not do not come to the institutions, the constitution will have no meaning no matter how well it is written.