Police Commissioner calls on MDP to reveal authenticity of leaked policy paper

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has called upon the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to prove the authenticity of their recently leaked policy paper detailing strategies to undermine and neutralize the powers of the police and military.

In an interview published by police media tonight, the Commissioner described the policy as a deliberate attempt to undermine and defame the police institution.

He said that if it is authentic, the paper is very concerning. He called upon the MDP leadership to reveal the paper's authenticity.

“If it is a real MDP policy document, it is very concerning. If the document is true, it should be worrying for all citizens. I would like to call upon the MDP leadership to reveal whether it is their policy or not,” Commissioner Riyaz said.

MDP has yet to refute the validity of any part of the leaked policy paper.

In his interview, the Commissioner called upon all political parties to refrain from trying to manipulate the police to achieve political goals.

Referring to February 2012 transfer of power, he said that the police will act against whoever gives them unlawful orders, regardless of who is in power. This has been proven in the past, he said.

Speaking on to the paper’s proposal to transfer the work of the police forensic department's DNA testing unit to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the Commissioner said is is necessary for the police to have the capability to conduct forensic tests and that “it is a big joke” to attempt to transfer the department to another institution.

He said that the police institution cannot be dismantled as proposed by paper and that he does not foresee any way that the police can be transferred under the authority of the City Councils.

The leaked policy paper also proposes to abolish the police and military intelligence units and establish a centralized national intelligence agency to be run directly from the President’s Office.

The paper also calls to limit the powers granted to the police through the Police Act, to abolish a number of branches from the institution and dramatically reduce their number to a force who will conduct traffic and control protests.

In addition, the paper asks to establish, under direct supervision from the President's Office, a “National Command Centre” to oversee all matters of national security.

A mini-manifesto policy paper, the MDP documents also propose to remove a larger portion of the police force from maintaining public order and re-allocates them to actively contribute to development projects.

Similarly, the paper proposes to transfer the fire department to the authority of the City Council.

It reasons that the people have lost faith in the country’s security forces and describes the police and the military as obstacles to molding the country to the party's vision.

It also accuses the police force of being anti-MDP and says that the officers in the police and military will never be sincere to MDP and its ideology.

The paper claims to be have been assembled by a committee within MDP, through consultation with party supporters who are currently active in the police and military. The chairman of the committee is stated as former Defence Minister Ameen Faisal.