Maldives Opposition, Who Rebuked Muizzu's 'Anti-India' Stance, Boycotts His Inaugural Speech

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on Monday boycotted President Mohamed Muizzu’s inaugural address to the Parliament. Another opposition party, The Democrats, also joined MDP, saying the three cabinet members whom the Parliament rejected last week had been invited to the sitting.

The MDP, which holds a majority in the Parliament, said its decision to boycott Muizzu’s address is meant to diminish the Parliament’s honour, the Maldivian outlet SunOnline International reported. Local media reported that the President of the island nation is required by the Constitution to address Parliament at the first session of the first term of the year. Amid largely empty seats, Muizzu began his address in the morning.

On Sunday, the MDP said that another reason it decided to boycott the address is because top government officials were involved in rioting outside the Parliament on the day of the cabinet approval vote. The opposition party accused the Muizzu government of making no effort to stop the protestors as they threatened and physically assaulted lawmakers. The party further said this decision was a form of peaceful protest “in condemnation of the actions of the government that is far removed from democracy.”

Two main opposition parties last month had expressed grave concern about the government’s anti-India stance, stressing the importance of New Delhi as a key long-standing ally. The MDP and The Democrats had said that alienating any development partner, especially the country’s most long-standing ally would be “extremely detrimental” to the long-term development of the country. The two opposition parties said, “Consecutive governments of the country must be able to work with all development partners for the benefit of the people of the Maldives, as the Maldives has traditionally done.”

In the joint statement, they also raised concerns on other issues including a lack of transparency in the financial status of the state and the lack of transparency in the MOUs and Agreements that the Government is signing, especially, with foreign parties. Although no country was named in the statement, China was reportedly the country in question.