MP Sinan settles outstanding dues in wake of Supreme Court petition

North Hithadhoo MP Mohamed Sinan (Sina) has settled outstanding dues on a bank loan after a petition was filed with the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the legitimacy of his parliamentary seat claiming failure to honor a ruling made by a magistrate court last year ordering him to settle the debt.

The ruling in question was made by the Hithadhoo Magistrate Court after the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) lawmaker and two of his co-applicants – Ahmed Waheed and Mohamed Saleem – were sued by the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) for failure to repay an MVR 3.8 million loan they took from the bank.

The MIB filed the lawsuit against the trio from Hithadhoo on July 21, 2024, and won the case nearly three months later on October 14, 2024.

But a private citizen filed a case with the Supreme Court on Thursday alleging that the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) politician and his partners failed to repay the debt as ordered by the court, citing an enforcement order requested by the bank.

Sun has been informed that in the wake of the petition, Sinan made a partial payment clearing all outstanding dues as of Thursday, following which the bank withdrew its filing seeking an enforcement order.

In the Supreme Court filing, the petitioner cited Article 73 (c) of the Constitution, which states that “a person shall be disqualified from election as a member of the People’s Majlis, or a member of the People’s Majlis immediately becomes disqualified, if they have a decreed debt which is not being paid as provided in the judgement.”

He asked that the court to establish that Sinan has not paid his debt as decreed and has therefore lost his parliamentary seat.

Sinan won the North Hithadhoo seat in parliamentary elections on April 21, 2024 after beating Mohamed Aslam – a politician from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) who had held the seat for 20 years.

The elections had also seen the PNC – fresh from its 2023 presidential election victory – gain a supermajority of seats in the Parliament with 75 out of 93 seats.

The potential loss of Sinan’s seat will therefore have little effect on the PNC’s power in the legislative assembly.