Under Threat of Dismissal, Mariya Sought India’s Help

“The Maldives Journal” has learned that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih attempted to dismiss Defense Minister Mariya from his Cabinet after the May 6th terror attack on former President and incumbent Speaker of Parliament, Mohamed Nasheed. However, faced with the threat of dismissal, Minister Mariya turned to India for help; and ultimately retained her position due to directives straight from India.

Days after the terror attack on Speaker Nasheed, Hulhudhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb dropped a metaphorical bombshell by announcing that he had informed the Defense Minister that such an attack was being planned and that Nasheed’s life was in imminent danger.

Since then, Minister Mariya has come under fire for not taking any extra precautionary or safety measures to ensure Nasheed’s safety after this information was received. She has faced harsh criticism from all fronts, including by members of Speaker Nasheed’s family.

Due to this, President Solih had informed her of his intention to dismiss her from the Cabinet, upon which Minister Mariya reached out to the High Commissioner of India to the Maldives, Sunjay Sudhir.

“The Maldives Journal” understands that High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir then directed the Maldivian government to keep Mariya Didi on as Minister of Defense. Among all the Ministers of the Solih Cabinet, Minister Mariya is second only to Foreign Minister Shahid in terms of friendship and association with India. In fact, Minister Mariya is the key player involved in writing up the many secret and extremely dubious agreements signed with India by the Solih administration.

Upon reaching out to the President’s Spokesperson Mabrouk Azeez to confirm whether President Solih had decided to dismiss Minister Mariya, “The Maldives Journal” was informed that an answer would be given after looking into the matter.

“The Maldives Journal” also reached out to Minister Mariya for comment, but received no response at the time of the publication of this article.