Revision proposed to allow sale of State property without Parliament approval

The government has proposed a revision to the Finance Act, to allow the sale of State property without Parliament approval.

The Finance Act was revised in 2010, to compel the approval of the Parliament before the government can sell or lease any State property or land, obtain loans, or issue guarantees. This revision was submitted to Parliament by then-opposition Parliamentarians, who now represent the current coalition government.

Minister of Finance Abdullah Jihad told Sun Online today that if the new revision is passed by the Parliament, Parliament approval will be required only for the sale or lease of assets of higher value than MVR5 million.

“We have not proposed any revisions to the part which compels Parliament approval for obtaining loans. We believe that the government should obtain Parliament approval before taking loans,” he said.

He added that the decision to propose this revision was made to allow the Finance Ministry some responsibility in the sale and lease of State property.

The argument given by the then-opposition Parliamentarians to support the revision proposed in 2010, was that the former government was unjustly distributing State property to various groups. Former President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the bill after it was passed twice by the Parliament, and after the Supreme Court issued an order to implement the law without further delay.