MPs say confident in new chief prosecutor's fairness
MPs hoped that he will execute his responsibilities with fairness and equality.
Members of parliament on Tuesday expressed confidence in their approval of new Prosecutor General (PG) Abbas Shareef, who currently serves as the Legal Secretary at the President's Office, that he will execute his responsibilities with fairness and equality on his appointment.
Six candidates applied for the vacant post of PG but only Abbas Shareef's name was sent to parliament by President Mohamed Muizzu. The judiciary committee on Monday unanimously approved the appointment of Abbas to the post.
The parliament in an extraordinary sitting on Tuesday passed Abbas's nomination.
Speaking to the committee report on Tuesday, Huraa MP Anaraa Naeem said that during the committee meeting held to interview Abbas, she noticed that Abbas had a very good vision to improve things as prosecutor. She said:
-
He assured that he would work to resolve the long-standing cases in the judicial process
-
Abbas believes that it is very important to speed up the resolution of cases in the judicial process as people face many challenges while in custody until the end of the trial
-
Abbas said he would consider the prosecutions equally fair; There are many political charges now
"We don't want to hear any such stories in future. The present government is also doing a lot to perfect the justice system and I am sure that the newly approved prosecutor general will also work to provide equality and justice to the people," Anaraa said.
Hanimaadhoo MP Abdul Gafoor Moosa from the opposition MDP said the position of prosecutor general is the prosecutor of the state. However, he regretted that none of the prosecutors who have been in the post since 2009 have fulfilled their roles.
He said:
-
All the prosecutors appointed so far are qualified for the position and have education and experience in the field
-
Every government wants a prosecutor who will do what they want, but that is not how it is supposed to be
-
Governments must accept that no prosecutor general will do anything that will make it difficult for the government to run
-
A prosecutor general can only be given the opportunity to complete his term if governments accept it
-
The first thing governments need to do to improve the judicial system is to trust the prosecutor general
-
If the government does not trust the prosecutor general, the people will not trust the judiciary
-
This is a problem that needs to be addressed now
"We have confidence in the prosecutor general who is being voted on today. I hope he will fulfil his responsibilities impartially, as other prosecutors do, without showing favouritism. I have no doubt about that," he said.
Velidhoo MP Mohamed Abbas from the government-aligned MDA said the failure to fulfil the role of the prosecutor general is not the government's problem. That is not happening because of the big mistakes made by those who come to the position, he added.
However, he said he was confident that the cases would come to an end with the newly approved prosecutor general.
"I believe and I am sure that the newly approved prosecutor general will bring happiness to the people of Maldives. There will be positive changes in the criminal justice system," Abbas said.
