23 March 2010. Parliament was cancelled today by Speaker Abdulla Shahid, after DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf reportedly approached MDP MP Alhan Fahmy, tapped him on the shoulder and informed him he was sitting in a DRP seat. As deputy leader of the party, my duty is to defend my party members,” Waheed said. The chamber erupted during a debate on the report submitted by parliamentary finance committee calling for the dismissal of the Auditor General over charges of corruption. “[MDP] disrupts parliament if there is anything not to their pleasure,” said Ahmed Nazim, deputy speaker and chairman of the finance committee. However Nazim said the committee’s four members were unanimous that the Auditor General was guilty and called for his dismissal. MDP MP Ahmed Easa said the party’s concern was not the corruption case against the Auditor General, “but a procedural issue.” “Nazim did not get the approval of the committee,” he said, claiming that key MDP members of the committee received text messages from parliamentary staff informing them that the meeting at which the findings of the sub-committee was discussed had been cancelled. Moreover, said Solih, when the committee later decided to summon the Auditor General and members of the Anti-Corruption Commission, DRP MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem withdrew his motion to recommend a no-confidence vote. Maafanu West MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem, who originally proposed the motion of no-confidence, accused MDP MPs of trying to “sabotage” the sitting and prevent the vote. Presenting the report yesterday, Nazim said a sub-committee was formed to investigate the allegations against the Auditor General in a letter sent by former ACC member Hassan Luthfy. While MDP MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih proposed summoning the auditor general, DRP MP Abdullah Abdul Raheem proposed a motion that the committee should recommend a vote of no-confidence. Although Naeem himself wrote the offices’ operating manual, said Nazim, the auditor general used both cards for personal use without reimbursing the office 14 months after the expenses. Nazim concluded by proposing the motion approved by the committee to call a vote of no-confidence. In the ensuing debate, MDP MPs said the report was intended to discredit Naeem and the audit reports he issued that alleged rampant corruption under the former government. DRP MP Ahmed Nihan meanwhile observed that Naeem showed up first in Google searches for “corrupt auditor general”.
