President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has dissolved the Settlement Committee on Tuesday, November 21, formed under the compensation policy.
President’s Office said that the outgoing government’s decision to pay over MVR 1 billion in compensation, inclusive of assets, to various parties was unlawful and done without the legal counsel of the Attorney General.
According to the office, President Muizzu dissolved the committee on the advise of Attorney General Ahmed Usham.
Usham said that previous government had been adhering to a conflict resolution policy between the state and private parties that lacked any legal framework. The previous government led by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solilh started compliance to the policy on November 2022.
Attorney General also noted that this compliance to the policy and the subsequent awarding of compensation to various parties without the involvement of the AG Office was in contradiction to Article 133(c) of the Maldives Constitution.
The office further notified that the previous administration concluded five cases without the counsel of AG Office, outside of the courts while they were still on trial.
“The policy lacks justice and equality and was applied discriminatively, while the Attorney General advised that it was in contradiction with Article 271 of the Constitution,” the President’s Office statement read.
The Settlement Committee was established by President Solih on January 27, 2019 with the aim of compensating private parties for unlawful contract termination during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration.