GIP submitted several membership forms without people's consent: ACC

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has stated that a large number of membership forms have been submitted to the Elections Commission, asking to join Gaumee Ithihad Party, without the consent of the people under whose names the forms were filled.

A statement released by ACC today stated that, following a complaint that alleged a number of forms to have been submitted by including information from two different government institutions, the commission’s investigation shows that 85 percent of the people whose names have been submitted have said that they did not sign a membership form to join GIP.

ACC said that the people felt that they were deceived and that the details correct details of the people whose names have been submitted, have now been forwarded to EC.

The ACC statement said that the party office gives an entry number to each membership form, in the order that they receive them and that the logs maintained by the office on the forms that enter into the registry do not match with the forms that were submitted.

The statement also said that two membership forms were submitted containing details of two people who were already deceased.

“The form states that a person who had passed away on 8th August 2012 had signed on a form on 6th March 2013, and a person who had passed away on 16th January 2011 had also signed on a form on 16th February 2013. It is understood that the dates of signature stated in the forms are later than the dates of their passing,” the ACC statement read.

ACC has called upon the EC to ensure that the membership forms submitted by GIP are properly verified and to make sure that information on the forms are authentic before they are processed.

Spokesperson for GIP, Abbas Adil Riza said that the statement is a retaliation from ACC to the party’s accusation that the commission had gained a large sum of money for publishing a report that tips the arbitration process in favour of GMR.

“Anti-Corruption Commission released this statement after we received (information of) allegations regarding the issue where the airport was sold to GMR, that the Anti-Corruption Commission had obtained a large sum of money by publishing a report that favours GMR in the arbitration process. We have called upon the police to investigate the finances of the members of the Anti-Corruption Commission and their families. So this statement was released in retaliation, thinking they might shame us. I’m talking about 15,000 forms. You can question three people and say that it is 85 percent, if two people agree to the same. They have to tell us how they made sure that the persons they questioned were the persons who submitted the forms,” Abbas Adil Riza said.