Once again the auditor general of Maldives is proving to be the trump card in MDP's arsenal. During last year's presidential election the AG released a very timely fiscal report designed to slander the then incumbent government. Since then the AG went dormant whilst the new government delved into the state treasury with gusto.

Now that the parliamentary elections are looming, the AG is once again back to his old tricks. The new accusation is again designed to defame the opposition with the former president as the main target.

Two things are worth noting about this new report. Firstly, some of the figures that it audits are simply minuscule compared to the costs of belly-flopped projects which the public are really interested in (even the AG's salary is more impressive). What of the really big sums which were embezzled by various project managers of the government (most of whom have no relations to Gayoom or any of his kith or kin).

The second concern the report raises is the implied commitment of most of the AG's resources into investigating a fallen leader instead of an empire. The audit report seems to be centered around Maumoon and his personal corruption instead of subjecting the whole system to the test, and thereby holding all who were responsible accountable for their actions.

Is the AG afraid of investigating the former government because the current one comprises of many individuals from the former? Is this why various departments are still being allowed to embezzle their budgets without fear of retribution? Does this explain why no one raised concerns about corruption during the greater part of Maumoon's tenure?

Be it through cowardice or greed, the individuals unto whom the people have delegated administrative authority are repeating the mistakes made by their predecessors. No one seems to have the will to put the people's rights ahead of the government's.