Thursday
26th Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Member of Parliament for Mahibadhoo constituency, Ahmed Thariq (Tom) said that Maldives’ decision to support Mauritius’ claim to Chagos Islands sovereignty, a principle acknowledged and accepted for years by the previous administration, proves that electing just anyone as the government is completely unacceptable.
The Maldives has always sided with England on the issue lodged at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
In 2019, the International Court of Justice, the U.N.'s highest court, ruled that the continuing British occupation of the islands was illegal and the Chagos Islands are rightfully part of Mauritius.
Maldives voted against Mauritius in the vote taken by the UN in 2017 to lodge the complaint at ITLOS. Moreover, Maldives stood by England and voted against Mauritius in 2019 when the UN approved to maintain ICJ’s ruling to keep Chagos’ sovereignty with Mauritius.
However, Attorney General Riffath declared Maldives’ newly taken stand on Thursday, while arguing the case between Mauritius and Maldives before ITLOS. Mauritius and the Maldives have been fighting over a 37,000-square-mile expanse of the Indian Ocean since 2019, with both claiming the fish-rich waters as their own economic zones. This was also the reason why Maldives had always voted against Mauritius’ claim of sovereignty on Chagos Islands.
Riffath stated that Maldives will vote with Mauritius at U.N. in the case of Chagos Islands and the President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had previously expressed those intentions to the Prime Minister of Mauritius in a letter.
While the government had declared their change of stand at the international hearing, the administration did not share their intentions with the people or ask for the opinion of the parliament.
Speaking on the issue, Tom stated that while the Commander in Chief of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has so clearly traitor to the nation, he questioned the defense force when they planned to take action against him.
Looking at the imperceptible side of the Chagos Islands issue, Tom accused that since India helped Maldives secure the highest seat at the United Nations General Assembly, Maldives has given up power over a part of the Maldivian sea area to Mauritius, a country under India’s influence.
Mauritius is the only country outside of India that has a Hindu religious population. A majority of the Mauritius population are Indians. Furthermore, Tom stated that Aljazeera has revealed that India has been secretly building a military base in Mauritius.
Tom said that Aljazeera broke the new of India’s secret military base in Mauritius, being built by AFCONS company, the company assigned the Maldivian Thila-Male’ bridge project.