The Democrats led by former president and parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed has accused the government of “sending an agent provocateur” with an “India Out” banner to Friday night’s opposition rally.
A group of eight men put up an “India Out” banner during the rally held to protest against the demarcation of the disputed territory between Maldives and Mauritius.
It was not immediately clear if they were affiliated with the politicians that organised the rally. The organisers did not encourage “India Out” protests.
But in a statement issued on Saturday, The Democrats “strongly condemned the dirty, cheap tricks to try and divert the intention of the rally held by all opposition political parties.”
“The Democrats strongly condemns this duplicitous act to try and portray last night's rally as an event against any of our international partners. The Democrats will under no circumstances associate with such a movement, singularly against any of our neighbouring or international partners.”
“India Out” is a campaign by the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) to show disapproval about the alleged stationing of Indian military members in the country.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has issued a decree to ban the campaign as the government tries to quash any attempts against the neighbouring country.
The Democrats said the rally was a gathering of all opposition parties and key actors to condemn Solih and his administration's “underhanded and secretive dealings over the delimitation of the sea territory between the Maldives and Chagos.”
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.
According to The Democrats statement, the rally was held to condemn the government’s lack of transparency and lack of consultancy with any stakeholders, including the parliament and the people “in the selling out of what was partly a Maldives' ocean territory.”
“The Government continues to refuse to disclose a secret letter the President of the Maldives, President Ibrahim M. Solih sent to Mauritius in ceding the territory.”
Nasheed, who leads The Democrats, has close ties with India and strengthened bilateral relations with India during his administration from 2008 to 2012.
The statement assured that their foreign policy will be “aligned closely with our neighbouring and international countries, with whom we share the most fundamental principles of democracy.”
“We also use this opportunity to affirm our gratitude for our international partners, and neighbours who have played an invaluable role in helping bring democracy to the Maldives.”
The Democrats is a new party formed by the 'Fikurrege Dhirun' faction of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after Nasheed lost the MDP's presidential primary. MPs in the faction resigned to form the new party but Nasheed remains the MDP's president.
