Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu, who acted at the behest of China, has alleged that his predecessor Ibrahim Mohammed Solih acted on the orders of “a foreign ambassador”.
However, Muizzu neither took the name of any country nor any diplomat. President Muizzu made the allegation in response to a question during an interview with Public Service Media (PSM).
He was asked about the opposition’s criticism of the recent purchase of military drones.
This interview was broadcast on Thursday night. Ahead of parliamentary elections in the country, the main opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) has stepped up attacks on Muizzoo over various issues.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Maldives for the first time has purchased surveillance drones from Turkey to patrol its vast exclusive economic zone and efforts are being made to set up a drone base to operate military drones.
Responding to a question about the criticism regarding drones, Muizzu said that the main opposition party MDP remained in power from 2018 to 2023 and also had an overwhelming majority in the Parliament.
“But the party failed to protect the independence of the Maldives and left it in the hands of a foreign country,” news portal Sun.MV quoted Muizzoo as saying.
According to the news portal, Muizzu said that former President Solih had “acted on the orders of a foreign ambassador, resulting in widespread damage.” However, he did not specify which country he was referring to. “We had lost independence in every sense, including economic,” he said.
“After all this, they will not accept our efforts to resolve all this and get the country back on the path that the people of Maldives want.”
It is believed that this statement of Muizzu has been focused on India. His predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was president during 2018–23. His government had implemented the “India First” policy.
Maldives was one of the main beneficiaries of India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy. During Solih’s tenure, New Delhi spent billions of dollars in development and infrastructure projects in the Maldives.
On the other hand, Muizzu has been pro-China. He had given the slogan of India Out in the last presidential elections. A few hours after assuming office, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian troops from Maldives.
He had then said that about 80 Indian soldiers deployed in Maldives should be withdrawn immediately. These military personnel were engaged in operating two helicopters and one aircraft.
These aircraft are operated primarily for humanitarian aid and medical evacuation operations.
India recently replaced the military personnel operating one helicopter with civilian personnel and the rest will be withdrawn by May. (with language inputs)