Innocent third parties in joint investments with the government should be protected by law: MP Nasheed

Former Minister of Legal Reform and Kulhudhuffushi-south MP Mohamed Nasheed has said that the Maldives lacks a proper system to protect innocent third parties that take up joint investments with the State and government and that such parties should be protected by law.

Speaking on a video interview published on his personal blog, the parliamentarian and prominent lawyer stated that there is a considerable increase in companies that take up joint venture investments with the government, but said that the investors confidence in such investments are dwindling through a perception that there is a lack of a proper guarantee.

“There would be more trust and confidence in an investment between an individual party and the government than in an investment between an individual party and another individual party, the investor will always believe that the government will act according to the law. But the reality today is different. An investment with the government should not be like a line you draw on water. It should be set in stone, and just as clear,” Nasheed said.

He said that a proper system to protect innocent third parties has to be established.

“By an innocent third party I mean a person had not committed a crime, a party that does honest business with the State. I am not telling you that a person who gains State property through corruption should be protected, or (to protect) a person who had done something immoral jointly with someone in the government,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed noted that there are signs that the investors are losing confidence in such joint investments and that one such example is the case where the government had decided to sell land from the south-west harbour area in Male’ where a number of parties had invested millions. He said that even when the law clearly did not allow such an investment, the government had opted to make the announcement and that the only parties that suffered following the court rulings that the investments were illegal, were the investors themselves.

“The people who invested in the matter faced losses, they did not get back the lands or the money. Similarly, when the current housing unit initiatives are announced, the foreign investments get a island or lands as a return. But who permits these villa construction projects, and under what law, is not known,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed said that it is the responsibility of the Attorney General to make sure that these investments are sound and carried out in the proper manner and that previous unfavourable incidents were products neglect on the part of the Attorney General.

“If the investments with the government were not carried out according to the law, or if they were carried out against the law, something that can be done is for the responsible minister or the Attorney General to take personal and criminal responsibility. We can also make it such that the investor who suffers get the return or compensation for what the investor had suffered, that is also something that can be done. Or else, the Maldives name will be tarnished,” Nasheed said.