Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Qasim Ibrahim has appealed to party members and leadership to not participate in the opposition rally scheduled for Friday.
In late April, the disputed territory between the Maldives and Mauritius was demarcated at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) after the government agreed that Chagos belongs to Mauritius.
The opposition has accused the government of “selling” part of the Maldives' territorial waters and vowed to remove “traitors” from power.
In a message sent to the party council’s WhatsApp group, Qasim appealed to his supporters to not partake in the rally planned for Friday.
“It is my sincere request and advice for the party leadership and members to not partake in the June 2 rally,” he wrote.
He recalled how events unfolded following the May Day rally held on May 1, 2015 by the opposition against the administration of former president Abdulla Yameen.
Qasim said the expected outcome and the real outcome of the May Day rally were very different and that JP decided not to attend that rally after assessing the situation.
The party’s leadership is aware of the direction and the possible outcome of the upcoming rally, he said, appealing to prioritize peace and stability as decided by the council.
“I believe a real outcome can be achieved through working diligently with expert opinion to find routes to overturn the ITLOS decision,” Qasim added.
Some members of the JP leadership have been working with the opposition in connection to the Chagos issue. But the party has not officially taken a stand on the matter.
Translated by Saya Ahmed
