Campaigning has begun today for Maldives parliamentary election to be held on March 17th. President Mohamed Muizzu will be hoping his party (PNC-People’s National Congress), improves its position so he is able to pursue his legislative agenda. Currently, the 93-member parliament is dominated by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of former president Ibrahim Solih. The PNC recently lost the election for mayor of Male, the capital.
India continues to figure in the island’s domestic politicis. In a post on X, former foreign minister Abdullah Shahid said, “100 days in, it’s clear: President Muizzu’s claims of ‘thousands of Indian military personnel’ were just another in a string of lies. The current administration’s inability to provide specific numbers speaks volumes. There are no armed foreign soldiers stationed in the country. Transparency matters and the truth must prevail.”
Muizzu had won the presidential election in November last year on the plank of ‘India Out’. A day after taking oath, he requested India to withdraw its military personnel from the island. He had since then stated that an agreement had been reached with New Delhi to withdraw the personnel.
According to Maldivian government, the military personnel from one of the three aviation platforms would be withdrawn before March 10, and those on the remaining two platforms would be withdrawn before May 10. The Indian government has said that it would replace them with competent Indian technical personnel.
Muizzu visited China last month and claimed that Beijing fully supported the Indian Ocean island’s sovereignty. During his election campaign he had vowed to take Male closer to Beijing and said that no country will influence the island-nation’s foreign policy, in an indirect jibe at India.
In January, a diplomatic row ensued following derogatory remarks made by Maldivian politicians on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep. Following which, in a veiled dig at India, Muizzu said, “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us.”
