After Lanka, Ian Paisely in trouble again over Maldivian holidays
Ian Paisely Jr., the British MP, who was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days for failing to disclose two all-expenses-paid holidays in Sri Lanka, is in the news again.
This time, he is to face the Parliamentary Standards Commission over a similar holiday he had enjoyed from the controversial then government of Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives.
It began after he and two other British MPs visited the Maldives on a fact-finding tour that included inspection of conditions under which onetime President Ahmed Nasheed was held in prison. He reported back on his return to London that the then President had been detained under luxury conditions.
Mr Paisely is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which supports Prime Minister Theresa May’s shaky conservative government.
Earlier, Mr Paisely denied he and his family members received two different paid holidays from Sri Lanka. There were no official engagements during the visit arranged by then then Monitoring MP for the Foreign Ministry, Sajin de Vass Gunawardena.
Mr Paisely’s latest free holiday was reported by the BBC in its spotlight investigation. Here are some excerpts:
“Mr Paisley said he paid for part of the holiday and the rest was paid for by a friend.
“The North Antrim MP did not reveal the identity of this friend. He said the friend was unconnected with his work and has received no benefit as a result of his work.
Mr Paisley was recently suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days for ‘serious misconduct’ for failing to declare two family holidays to Sri Lanka in 2013.
“DUP Leader Arlene Foster welcomed the fact that Mr Paisley had contacted the standards commissioner.
“Speaking to BBC News she said: ‘Very serious issues have been raised and it will not surprise you to know that we will be referring that to the party officers and we will be looking at it in that forum.’
“Mrs Foster added: ‘I expect -and the public expect -- high standards of those of us who are in public life. I think it is important that we uphold those high standards. Let us look at this issue with the party officers. I think that's the right forum to do all of that and we will be doing that very soon.’
“Ian Paisley, his wife and two sons stayed at the resort in the Maldives for six days in the autumn of 2016.
“Months before, Mr Paisley and two other politicians had visited the Maldives. At the time, international organisations including the UN were criticising the country's government over human rights abuses. Mr Paisley argued against economic sanctions.
“Ian Paisley, his wife and his two sons received full-board five-night stay at the luxury resort in October and November 2016, eight months after he was part of a contro- versial parliamentary visit to the islands.
“Gavin Millar QC, an expert on parliamentary rules, said the Nolan principles on standards in public life placed an onus on Mr Paisley to be transparent about why he had not registered the trip to the Maldives.
"MPs should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands," said Mr Millar.
"Now his decision in this case, his decision was not to register the benefit, after the trip in late 2016, and he has an obligation to give reasons for that decision.
"Unless he can come up with some wider public interest argument for not saying more, he should be saying significantly more about any considerations that are relevant to the motive of that source in paying that money."
Mr Paisley was contacted by Spotlight about Mr Millar's comments but has not responded.
In a statement to Spotlight on Tuesday, Mr Paisley said: "I have responded in clear and categoric terms to your questions.
"For the record, the government of the Maldives did not organise or pay for my family vacation in 2016, which I do not intend to go into with you. I'm satisfied the vacation did not have to be recorded on the register.”
“With the other two MPs, he also visited the prison where opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed had been held, and described the conditions as quite luxurious.
“Later that year Mr Paisley travelled to the Maldives again for a holiday with his wife and two children.
“Spotlight's evidence, including an image which appears to be from the resort's internal records provided to the programme by an anonymous source, suggests that full board and transfers were provided complimentarily at the request of Mr Yameen's government and facilitated by the resort owner, Hussain Hilmy.
“Mr Hilmy is a former minister in the Maldives government and has held a number of other important public posts.”
Gavin Millar QC said that if, as Spotlight's documentary evidence suggests, the benefit was requested by the government and facilitated by Mr Hilmy, Mr Paisley should not have accepted it.
"But having accepted it, he certainly should have registered it undoubtedly.
"There are very strict rules about lobbying and creating an interest for yourself that may be perceived as lobbying. The moment you know these facts, that are disclosed in this document, the perception is that this is a reward for him having advocated for the Maldives government."
Ian Paisley has denied that the trip was connected with the government of the Maldives.
Last week, Ian Paisley told Spotlight that he had discussed the holiday in the Maldives with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone during her investigation into his Sri Lanka holidays.
Mr Paisley claimed that as a consequence of that conversation, he had satisfied himself he did not need to register the holiday.