Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen Who was jailed on corruption charges in 2019 has returned to politics with a campaign against Indian influence in the country even though Maldives food security depends a lot on imports from New Delhi.
Abdul Yameen who is the political manager of the China-based “India Out” campaign was freed from house arrest recently after a top court overturned a money-laundering and embezzlement conviction, allowing him to potentially make a return to politics.
As the president of Maldives, Yameen had laid the foundation of the Chinese debt trap in 2015 when he was sentenced to five years in jail and fined around USD 5 million in 2019 for embezzling USD 1 million in state funds.
Dependency on India
Maldives food security hugely depends on Indian imports. Considering this the government ministers told the parliament’s security committee of Maldives, how the program of the opposition was motivated and hurt Maldivian interests more.
He also listed rice, flour, sugar, chicken, eggs, potatoes, onions, and lentils as among the basic foodstuffs consumed by Maldivians in substantial quantities are supplied by India.
Opposition Rally
On March 23, the Maldivian parliament accepted an emergency motion disallowing a planned opposition rally two days later in the capital city of Male.
It had been called by former president Abdulla Yameen and his progressive party, its ally, the people’s national congress.
The emergency motion was moved by Abdulla Jabir, a member of former president Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party and it stated that the rally was endangering national security and sowing discord between the Maldives and one of its Neighbour.
It asked the Maldivian National Defense Force to stop the rally and other similar events.
The theme of this rally was “India out”, a slogan coined two years ago by protestors who claimed that the MDP government led by President Ibrahim Solih “sold out” the Maldives to India.
Maldives political context
A small country with roughly 500,000 people that won democracy only in 2005 and which lies at the strategic crossroads of the Indian Ocean.
The Maldives has been buffeted over the last decade or more by the geopolitical crosswinds in the region.
India and China have been under high tension for influence in the Maldives over the last 10 years.
As the closest big Neighbour, India has been Maldive’s first responder in all sectors and the relationship has been cemented by the strongman former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was the unchallenged ruler of the country until the closing years of the 20th century.
In a sensational South Asian moment, India’s National Security Guard thwarted a planned coup against Gayoom by a businessman who had hired Sri Lankan Tamil militant group PLOTE for firepower.
Over the last two decades as political parties fought elections to win office, foreign policy has played a big role and this period coincided with China’s rise and its projection of power in the region and beyond.
In the Maldives, the MDP and its top leaders especially Nasheed are seen as pro-India while rival Yameen is seen as a China proxy. In the last presidential and parliamentary elections in 2018, the MDP was voted back into office, and Yameen was convicted on corruption charges soon after.
Elections of 2024
Yameen’s release on December 21 from a longhouse arrest after the Maldives supreme court overturned his conviction led to an immediate increase in the pitch and frequency of the anti-India rallies.
Protestors carry posters of the politician who is the half-brother of Gayoom, Yameen has been present at some of these protest sites and led some rallies.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections are in 2024 and Yameen is using the campaign to shore up his support base by painting the MDP as a party that has enslaved the country to India.
“India Out” campaign
What began as a general protest at the Solih government’s perceived India-friendly policies has now turned into an allegation that New Delhi has sent a large military contingent to the Maldives and this claim has been repeatedly denied by Solih’s government.
Attention has focused particularly on the cooperation between the two sides to develop a harbor on the Uthuru Thilafalhu (UTF) atoll for the Maldivian coast guard.
Solih’s government has said there is no Indian military personnel in the Maldives other than a maintenance and flight crew operating three Dornier aircraft used for surveillance, rescue, and air ambulance operations.
Addressing this the defense ministry quoted,
“Statements that allege UTF to be a foreign military base are simply untrue”
Published By : VATSAL KOTHA
Edited By : KRITKA KASHYAP
