The parliament’s General-Purpose Committee on Thursday approved standing order mandating elected MPs to submit their financial statements within three months from oath of office.

As per current standing order, members are not required to submit their financial statement before one year since they officially assume office.

MPs are required to provide details of the financials, inclusive of the expenses made towards, and earnings of their spouses and expenses towards children below the age of 18. Details in the financial statement include;

• Assets and property in Maldives and in abroad

• Business stakes/shares

• Earnings and debt

• Responsibilities of other employed, if employed besides the parliament

The standing order mandates MPs to submit their financial statements before August 31 of each year, meaning the current lawmakers are required to submit their first statement before this date in 2024.

At Thursday’s General-Purpose Committee meeting, parliament’s Counsel General Fathimath Filza’s counsel was read by the administrative desk, which mandates MPs to submit their initial financial statements, inclusive of the financial details of their spouses and children, within three months from the date of oath of office.

Filza further counseled MPs to submit their following statements once each year during their term.

The committee’s Feydhoo MP Ibrahim Didi supported the Counsel General’s advice, adding the move would enhance transparency.

Thulhaadhoo MP Abdul Hannan Aboobakur however, was more unwelcoming Filza’s counsel and argued they had submitted an earlier statement to the Elections Commission (EC).

He argued the financial statement within the three-month window was unnecessary, claiming the transactions made in between their initial submission to EC and the parliament will not show any significant new developments.

Kandhitheemu MP Ameen Faisal had supported the standing order amendment as well, and said that while lawmakers are accused of illicit enrichment, majority of these members own stakes in their own businesses before they run for parliament. He too, argued that a shorter timeframe to submit financial statements enhanced transparency.