Nasheed defends comments of FENAKA Operation’s Head

Former President and current Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday defended Operations Head of FENAKA Corporation Zahir Usman’s comments regarding the by-election of Komandoo.

During the Parliament’s sitting, the MP of Naifaru Constituency Ahmed Shiyam asked for the Speakers permission to play a leaked audio clip, where Zahir can be heard threatening FENAKA employees of the Komandoo region.

In the audio, Zahir is heard stating that the employees must vote for Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) candidate Mohamed Raashid and asked the staff that do not vote to hand over their National Identification Card. 

Additionally, he can be heard threatening any employee that leaks the conversation with termination.

Although Nasheed allowed the first part of the audio to be played, he did not permit the second part, where Zahir asked to vote for MDP’s candidate and was threatened with termination.

Speaking in defence of Zahir, Nasheed said that in the beginning part of the audio itself, it was maintained that he was speaking in a personal capacity and that he would not influence in any way.

“When he started speaking itself, we can tell it was done in a personal capacity. He is a citizen of Komandoo constituency, and has the right to campaign as well.”