Committee passes motion to remove central bank governor

Parliament's finance committee on Wednesday approved a motion to recommend President Mohamed Muizzu to remove central bank governor Ali Hashim from his post.

Deputy speaker, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim, who moved the matter earlier this month, moved the committee to recommend the removal of the governor at a meeting Wednesday morning.

"We are looking at it like this and doing nothing about the governor in this way which could be very bad from a national point of view. The motion says we want to bring more freshness to the leadership there," he said.

The committee unanimously approved the recommendation to the president to remove the governor. 

The recommendation will be put up for a vote in the full house of the parliament before it could be sent to the president as a recommendation.

Parliamentary finance committee was informed for a third day that the governor of the central bank, Monetary Authority of Maldives (MMA) Hashim, who is ill, will not be able to attend the meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

The governor was first given the opportunity to respond to the committee on Monday.

However, the governor has responded in writing, informing the parliament that he will not be able to attend on Monday and Tuesday as well. He asked the committee to allow him to respond to questions in writing.

In a letter to the committee, Hashim said on Monday that the government has always been advised on the then situation to avoid an economic disaster and the current situation is because the authorities did not pay attention to the advice and guidance given by the central bank and international financial institutions.

According to the MMA Act, the governor is removed from office by the president in consultation with parliament. According to the rules of the parliament, the committee that will hold the MMA governor accountable is the parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Deputy speaker of the parliament, Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim accused Ali Hashim of not discharging his duties as governor. This was part of the debate on the state's fiscal responsibility bill.

“Monetary policy is a responsibility entrusted to the governor of the central bank of Maldives. We do not see the Governor fulfilling that responsibility,” Nazim told the parliament on July 1.

In his case: