The government tried to push the narrative that a coup attempt was happening on Sunday after the national bank decided to suspend dollar transactions from Rufiyaa accounts, some people who received instructions from government officials have said.
Some media outlets and social media users posted that the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) held a press conference regarding the economic situation and fake accounts were used to call to overthrow the government when the BML decision was announced.
Several journalists said President's Office Communications Minister Ibrahim Khaleel instructed their outlets to push that narrative. A top government official told Adhadhu that the government was the first to characterize the events of Sunday as a coup attempt.
“[We] were forced to set the narrative that way because the public started thinking that the dollar limit was a government decision,” the official said.
A source from a media outlet that received instructions from the President's Office said Khaleel contacted the outlet repeatedly and instructed them to bring articles describing the "financial coup."
But Khaleel denied the allegations.
The police did not reveal that an investigation was underway as the government continued to push the narrative. But they announced a "serious investigation into the alleged coup attempt" on Monday night as the ruling People's National Congress held a gathering in Male'.
Despite the launching of the police investigation, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been questioned over the alleged financial coup.
Police said the decision taken by the national bank, of which the government is a majority shareholder, was announced in contravention to the advice of the government.
It added that the MDP was holding a press conference regarding the financial situation when the decision was announced and that it was followed by calls to overthrow the government using "hundreds of bot accounts" on social media.
"Attempting to create unrest following the decision of BML can be viewed as an attempt to overthrow the elected government," the statement read.
BML suspended dollar transactions with Rufiyaa cards and reduced the limit of previously issued credit cards to USD 100, but reversed the decision on the recommendation of the central bank, Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).
Meanwhile, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu described BML's decision as a "direct coup attempt" while speaking at the PNC rally on Monday night.
"What was done, anyone with common sense would know that all these dots are connected, what was done is, just as Shiyam [Minister Shiyam] also pointed out, it was an attempted coup, by whoever was behind it," he said.
Opposition MDP Chairperson Fayyaz Ismail characterized the government's allegations of a financial coup as a joke. The allegation has also drawn a lot of public criticism.
