Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid’s timely endorsement of President Ibrahim Solih for a second term has taken the wind out of the rumour mill that followed his meeting with Mohammed Nasheed, ruling MDP boss and Parliament Speaker, in India. The New Delhi meeting, in which India’s External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar was present, had raised eyebrows back home in Maldives. “Solih will win a second term,” Shahid said in an Indian media interview, thus, ending his long silence on the presidential poll, due next year. In recent weeks, Nasheed had talked about Shahid wanting to become President in 2018, and said that the Foreign Minister was suited for the job. The local media interpreted it to say that Nasheed was implying that he was against a second term for his old friend Solih even if he could not take the place of his idea of a parliamentary scheme written into the nation’s Constitution. Simultaneously, the Foreign Ministry under Shahid’s care promptly dismissed social media suggestions that India wanted former President Yameen arrested. “Have not been instructed by a foreign country to imprison Yameen,” the ministry said, pointing out that Shahid was in India at the time. Reports indicated that Jaishankar congratulated Shahid on his UNGA performance and also on maintaining strong bilateral relations.

The local media interpreted it to say that Nasheed was implying that he was against a second term for his old friend Solih even if he could not take the place of his idea of a parliamentary scheme written into the nation’s Constitution.  

A high-profile personality in his own right, Shahid’s popularity has gained even more after his one-year-long UNGA stint that is ending this month. Therefore, the speculation about his wanting to, or the likelihood of his joining the presidential fray, five years earlier than speculated.  His media interview in India has set at rest all kinds of rumours and speculation in the matter. Incidentally, during his media interview in India as the outgoing UNGA President, Shahid also called for UN reforms that should reflect the geopolitical trends of current times. “I am presiding over a special UN session that has been convened at the request of the security council after 40 years. We have seen the world unite with 143 countries, supporting the resolution that was submitted. We saw the international community speak clearly and loudly,” he said, obviously underscoring the fact that the main purpose of his India visit pertained to his UN position.

Yameen to pause ‘India Out’

For his party, Yameen, as the Opposition PPM-PNC combine’s presidential candidate, told an alliance rally that he was pausing his ‘India Out’ campaign. Solih’s presidential decree had banned such rallies stating that ‘presidential candidates should be law-abiding’. In a local media interview, Yameen however declared that if elected President, he would publicise the Uthuru Thilafulhu (UTF) coast guard dock pact between India and the Solih government, which he and his party have been opposing, both inside Parliament and outside. Inside Parliament, however, the Yameen camp continued to target India. Participating in a debate on a Bill criminalising the 'India Out' campaign, the PPM vice-president Ahmed Shiyam said, without proof, that the ‘Bill was drafted by the BJP, India’s ruling party.  His party colleague Ali Hussain went one step further by arguing that the Bill if passed, would hurt the ruling MDP badly, as it suppressed ‘freedom of expression’ guaranteed under Article 27 of the Constitution. Maldivians would also be prohibited from deporting illegal Indian migrants still residing in the country, he said. Even as Parliament deliberated the ‘India Out’ Bill, as it has come to be known, the Solih Cabinet discussed the 39 recommendations of a sub-committee that went into the mob attack on the UN’s Yoga Day celebrations in capital Male, jointly sponsored by the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Indian Culture Centre, on 21 July. The sub-committee had come up with recommendations in five areas, to prevent the recurrence of such attacks. The police have arrested 23 persons in connection with the disturbances to the Yoga Day celebrations at the National Stadium.

Participating in a debate on a Bill criminalising the 'India Out' campaign, the PPM vice-president Ahmed Shiyam said, without proof, that the ‘Bill was drafted by the BJP, India’s ruling party.

Talking about Yameen’s presidency (2013-18) in a local media interview, his half-brother and six-term President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said that the former was ‘‘dejected and angry’’ when he spoke to him about the mistakes being made by his government. According to him, “There were cases of extortion, corruption and lack of justice during the administration”, and that led to differences of opinion between them. This led to Yameen taking over the party and also having Maumoon Gayoom jailed for a time. The latter later founded the Maumoon Reforms Movement (MRM), which is a junior partner in the MDP-led Solih government. Gayoom also sought to corner the interviewer with a series of questions of his own when asked for his opinion on the ‘‘Indian military presence’’ in Maldives, as alleged by the Yameen camp. He wanted to know the details if the interviewer had any, and declined to respond to hypothetical questions like ‘What if Indian military were present…’ At the same time, he was a firm believer that no military belonging to a foreign country must be active in Maldives.

Closest friend and partner

In his interview with the Indian media, Foreign Minister Shahid clarified that from ‘Operation Cactus’ (1988) to post-tsunami restoration (2004) to COVID assistance (2020), ‘India is our first and closest friend. But China too is a partner’. The reference was to India rushing military assistance under the code-name ‘Operation Cactus’ to neutralise a mercenary-led coup bid against President Gayoom. Shahid also told the interviewer that the Yameen-led Opposition in his country had launched the ‘India Out’ campaign because they had no development agenda. “Partnership between Maldives and India is based on mutual trust and mutual recognition of the closeness, the affinity we have between our two countries, he said, pointing to the government’s ‘India First’ policy. And the relationship has thoroughly flourished during President Solih’s time,” he said further. “At the same time, we will also continue to work with everyone, including China and many other countries, who have been also very generous in their assistance and cooperation,” he added.

A section of the local social media claimed that the Chinese envoy was seeking to draw an early parallel to the US$ 500 million Thilamale sea bridge funded by India, and built by the Indian infrastructure major Afcons, since it promoted the nation’s industry and business more than facilitating passenger traffic like the Chinese bridge.

In Malé, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel led the Maldivian delegation at the second joint meeting of the tripartite coordinating mechanism with China. Chinese Ambassador Wang Lixin participated in a virtual mode with Chinese enterprises in the country forming the third arm. In his remarks, Minister Khaleel underscored the significance of China as a bilateral partner. In a video, Amb Lixin claimed that 100 million people had used the Malé-Hulhule, Sinamale sea bridge, built by China on a Chinese credit line. A section of the local social media claimed that the Chinese envoy was seeking to draw an early parallel to the US$ 500 million Thilamale sea bridge funded by India, and built by the Indian infrastructure major Afcons, since it promoted the nation’s industry and business more than facilitating passenger traffic like the Chinese bridge. Work on the Thilamale bridge, the single largest project in Maldives, was delayed by the intervening COVID pandemic, which has also upset many deadlines. The work has resumed in recent weeks but has been hampered after a massive construction platform ran aground last month. The nation’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has since launched a survey to assess the damage caused to the natural reef in Villimale island, one of the three islands, the new bridge would connect, the other two being the capital Malé and Thilafushi island.

• International Affairs
• China
• India
• Neighbourhood
• Abdulla Shahid
• Ibrahim Solih
• Maldives
• Presidential polls
• UNGA

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