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Maldivian Opposition against Govt. selling island to Saudi
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MDP member and former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem together with party members addressing a news conference in Colombo. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the main opposition party in the Maldives, said Friday, the Maldivian government’s policy of selling islands to powerful countries in the world, would be a dangerous move for the whole Indian Ocean, due to the strategic location of the archipelago.
At a news conference held in Colombo, MDP member and former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem, said that, by doing so, the security and stability of neighbouring countries including India and Sri Lanka, would be threatened.
He alleged that, the Maldivian government was selling the Faafu Atoll to Saudi Arabia secretly, against the will of the general public.
The protest comes ahead of a proposed visit by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to Maldives. He is on an Asian tour visiting Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China, the Maldives, and, on his way back to the Middle East, Jordan.
The Maldivian government has denied the sale of the islands, but said it was looking for foreign investment in the area.
Mr. Naseem said, history has revealed how selling islands to foreigners caused adverse impacts on the inhabitants.
“President Yaameen Abdul Gayoom publicly announced in January, of a US$ 10 billion investment in Faafu Atoll by the Saudis. Our annual income is only US$ 2 billion. This is very much more, compared with our economy,” he said.
He also alleged that the fisheries industry, the backbone of the Maldives’ economy, would also collapse as a result.
“The inhabitants of the Faafu Atoll oppose the sale of their lands, but are suppressed by the security officers. This is total dictatorship.” he said
Former Youth and Sports Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal, said the government is carrying out the deal without any transparency, against the will of the people.
“We understand that a foreign party owning a part of the Maldives would compromise the sovereignty of the Maldives. Land is the scarcest resource in Maldives. 99.9% is water while only 0.1% is land.”
He also noted that, in late 2014, an MoU was signed between the Maldives government and the buying parties, and later, the land law was also amended by threatening and bribing members of parliament to sell Faafu Atoll.
“We are not against foreign investments but, what we highlight is that, our nation should not be sold at any cost. There is more than US$ 0.5 billion Sri Lankan investments in the Maldives. We are not against them,” he added.
The MDP stressed they had decided not to support any agreement signed by the government on foreign ownership of land, and would do everything to stop land sales to any foreign party.
“A motion of ‘No-Confidence’ will be presented to parliament against the Speaker, because he is obstructing Parliamentary sessions. We have received the support of many political parties including the former president, for these. This is the start of a series of actions against the government, to make them realise that things should be done in an appropriate way,” they said.
The news conference was attended by a number of former ministers of previous Maldivian governments, including the ministers of Youth and Sports, Foreign, Housing and President’s Office.
A spokesman for the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo, said they had no information about the proposed visit of the Saudi King .