Maldives MP presents proposal in Parliament after controversy

New Delhi: Maldives Member of Parliament Mikael Ahmed Naseem has requested Maldives Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Aslam to summon the Foreign Minister and also demanded ‘immediate dismissal’ of the deputy ministers who made the derogatory remarks. Comments against Indians and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meikle, who is an opposition MP from the South Galolhu constituency in Male, said the request was made on Monday, and while the official date to reconvene parliament is February, he would still try to hold a special session during the recess. are doing. “I requested the Speaker to summon the External Affairs Minister to Parliament for questioning in connection with the derogatory comments made by some senior officials of the government the day before yesterday

, And while Parliament is still in recess, we are making efforts to hold a special session within the recess for the summons,” the Maldivian MP said. Acknowledging that the current Maldivian government “has not done enough” in its response to the controversy, Mikael said Muizzu’s government should fire the deputy ministers.

“I think what the government has done is not enough,” Mikael said. The seriousness of the situation requires that the government issue a formal apology, as well as immediately dismiss the deputy ministers concerned.” He further underlined that the current government needs to consider what else it needs. This concerns relations with India or the concerned ministers. “I think suspension is not the right way to go about this. And I think we have a very strong and valuable relationship with India. And I think the ruling party needs to consider what the Maldives needs more. What does Maldives give more importance to whether it values its relations with India or the relationship and loyalty of the said Deputy Ministers with the ruling party is more important”, he said.

On President Muizzu’s visit to China and his rejection of his predecessor’s longstanding tradition of visiting India as his first foreign destination, the Maldivian MP expressed disappointment over the foreign policy of the current government and said that while dealing with ‘ It is ‘worrying’ to see the ‘lack of transparency’. China. “I am saddened to see that Maldives has moved away from its age-old foreign policy which always put India first and was a very balanced foreign policy approach.

Where I think we have understood the realities of our geography as well as our mutual strategic interests. Therefore, it is very disappointing that the government has taken this approach”, Mikael said.
“I am concerned that there is a lack of transparency in disclosing agreements and reporting such agreements to us, to Parliament,” he said.
Appreciating Indian assistance to Maldives, Michel appreciated New Delhi’s strong support and underlined how Maldives has always stood by the island nation in difficult times.

“India has always been our strongest ally in times of need, and India has always helped us. Be it the 1988 coup, or the Covid vaccines, which were provided to us and I think we were the first country to have it.” Such assistance was received from India”, the Maldivian MP said.
He further said that whatever is happening now is not ‘shocking’ as it is the result of systematic “anti-India rhetoric” being carried out by the Muizzu government for years.

“India has always been with us. And I think what’s happening is sad and terrible; I don’t find this shocking. I think this is the culmination of years of systematic anti-India rhetoric that has been promoted by the current ruling party. And I think it is very sad that they are finding it difficult to differentiate between working as opposition activists and now performing their roles as government ministers,” he said.

A major row broke out between India and Maldives after Maldivian Deputy Minister, other cabinet members and government officials made derogatory reference to PM Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep.
Indians including cricketers and film personalities have since come out in open support to promote local beach destinations and other tourist destinations.

However, the Maldivian government has distanced itself from the comments made by its ministers. Maldivian Foreign Minister Musa Zameer said that these comments against foreign leaders are “unacceptable” and do not reflect the official position of the Maldivian government.