Maldives: President Muizzu accuses pro-India predecessor Solih of working under foreign influence

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has accused his predecessor President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of acting on directives from a foreign ambassador, although he did not specify the country or diplomat involved.

Muizzu made these allegations during an interview with Public Service Media (PSM) on Thursday night local time, in response to criticism from the opposition regarding the recent procurement of military drones.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the main opposition party, has intensified its criticism of Muizzu on various issues in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections.

Earlier in the month, it was announced that Maldives has, for the first time, acquired surveillance drones from Turkey for patrolling its vast exclusive economic zone and efforts have begun by the state to establish a drone base in Noonu atoll Maafaru to operate the military drones.

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Responding to the question about criticism about drones, President Muizzu noted that the main opposition MDP, when it held office from 2018-2023, also held a supermajority in the Parliament.

“However, the party failed to protect Maldives’ independence, leaving it in the hands of a foreign country,” Muizzu was quoted as saying by Sun.mv, a news portal. Muizzu further said that President Solih “had operated on orders from a foreign ambassador, which resulted in extensive damage,” according to the news portal.

However, he did not specify which foreign country he was referring to, it said. “We had lost independence in all senses of the word, including economically. After having done all this, they would naturally not accept our efforts to remedy all this and put the country on a track that the Maldivian people want, towards a ‘Dhiveheenge Raajje’,” he said.

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Dhivehi Raajje in Dhivehi, the language of the people of Maldives, means ‘Kingdom of the Dhivehi people.’ The pro-Beijing president visited China in January and upon his return, indicated that the government was looking to acquire surveillance drones.

On March 4, Muizzu also announced that his country is working to establish a 24/7 monitoring system for the Maldivian waters this month to ensure control of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) despite its significantly large area. Regarding the cost of the drones, President Muizzu said that while he believes in transparency, such military secrets aren’t disclosed by any country.

“In such matters that are crucial to national security, I am heavily reliant on counsel from our chief of defence force and our generals. Therefore, I will follow their counsel, and I will listen to them,” he said.

The president also said that no value can be attached to the independence of Maldives and that it is in fact “priceless. The People’s National Congress (PNC) administration accuses the former administration of being overly dependent on India, while the MDP accuses the incumbent administration of ruining age-old ties with India and fostering closer ties with China, Sun.mv said.

Last year, less than 24 hours after taking oath as the President, Muizzu formally requested India to withdraw 88 military personnel from his country by March 15, saying the Maldivian people have given him a “strong mandate” to make this request to New Delhi. The first batch has already left the archipelago nation.

With inputs from agencies.