News Desk
MALE’ — The People’s Majlis has accepted two government-sponsored bills that together form the legal backbone of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s Maldives 2.0 digital transformation agenda, passing them to the Information and Communication Technology Committee for detailed review.
Both bills were submitted to Majlis on 15 June and accepted unanimously by members present at the sitting, following a wide-ranging debate. The unanimous acceptance is notable given that the initial debate on the Digital Transformation Bill drew sharp opposition accusations that the legislation was designed to enable electronic voting fraud, accusations the government firmly rejected.
The Digital Transformation Bill proposes creating a new government body called Maldives Digital Service, which would manage all ICT-related services across state institutions and maintain the country’s computer networks and digital infrastructure. Under the bill, state agencies would be required to use centralised registries as the authoritative source of data processed across information systems, enabling secure data sharing between institutions. The legislation would formally establish the Maldives 2.0 programme and mandate a digital-first approach across all government services and administration.
The Digital Identity Bill sets out the framework for verifying identities in online transactions between individuals, state institutions and legal entities. It specifies the obligations of parties who provide or use digital identity information, defines prohibited uses of identity data and establishes protections for personal information within the system. A Digital Identity Technical Advisory Committee would be created under the law to oversee and develop the identity framework.
Both bills now go to the ICT Committee for scrutiny before returning to the full chamber for a vote.
