Opposition majority in Parliament adequate to ensure his removal
By Girish Linganna
The Maldives' China-loving, newly elected President, Mohamed Muizzu, is likely to face impeachment proceedings in Parliament soon. This means that the incumbent president is facing the threat of losing his post. The Maldivian Constitution states that a third of the Majlis members should approve the resolution for removal of the president. This development comes close on the heels of a day when utter chaos prevailed in the House during a crucial vote to approve members of the incumbent president's Cabinet as rival MPs came to blows on the floor of the House.
The main Opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which holds a majority in the House, says it has gathered enough signatures to put the proceedings into motion as a total of 34 members, including those representing both the MDP and Democrats, have signalled support for Muizzu's impeachment. The MDP's parliamentary group, at its meeting held on Monday (January 29, 2024), unanimously decided to submit the impeachment motion.
Following the MDP and the Democrats' refusal to approve the appointment of four ministers—Attorney-General Ahmed Usham; Minister for Housing, Land and Urban Development Ali Haidar; Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed; and Minister for Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed—MPs of the ruling coalition—the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and Muizzu's People's National Congress (PNC)—claimed that denial of such approval was tantamount to obstructing government services for its citizens.
As pro-government MPs staged a protest in the House, a clash ensued between Abdulla Shaheem Abdul Hakeem, PNC MP for Kanditheem constituency, and Ahmed Easa, MDP MP for Kendhikulhudhoo constituency, with the Maldivian leaders kicking and punching each other, as the former tripped and knocked over Easa. Video clips recorded on the spot showed Shaheem gripping Easa's leg and the two falling together, while another video showed Easa kicking Shaheem in the neck and dragging him by his hair. Shaheem sustained injuries to his head and was taken to hospital.
One more session was called later in the night, but that, too, ended in a deadlock. The matter was put to the vote once again early on Monday, but yielded no solution. After Sunday's House proceedings disruptions, the MDP decided it would not approve home minister Ali Ihusan's and defence minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon's appointments if government lawmakers kept on disrupting Parliament.
Meanwhile, the ruling PPM-PNC coalition has filed no-confidence motions against Parliament Speaker Mohamed Aslam and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Saleem, according to the Sun.mv news website. They said it was “totally unacceptable” that, while the altercation was on, the Parliament Speaker not only failed to intervene and stop the ruckus, but even “actively encouraged” it. They also accused Speaker Aslam of misusing his official capacity to aid the interests of “a certain party”. The no-trust motion, obviously, is the coalition's response to the stalled Cabinet approvals.
A day after he took oath as the eighth president of the strategically located island nation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) on November 17, 2023, defeating incumbent president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih Mohamed Muizzu, 45, of the PNC—with his ‘India Out' and pro-China policy on which he had come to power—had put forward a formal request to the Indian government to pull out its 88 military troops from the island nation by March 2024 and put the lens of dozens of pacts in ked with India over the past few years.
India had deployed its troops in the Maldives in 2020 at then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's request. Solih was seen as more favourably inclined towards India. The deployment was part of a strategic cooperation pact between the two countries, including joint training, maritime security and surveillance.
The presence of Indian troops in the Maldives irked China, which has been inexorably expanding its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) through its ‘Belt and Road Initiative'. China had sunk in huge amounts of money into the Maldives infrastructure during former president Abdulla Yameen's tenure. He was ousted by Solih in 2018 and later convicted of money-laundering and put behind bars for five years.
Following Muizzu's announcement, India finally agreed to pull out its troops from the Maldives, honouring the promise Muizzu had made to the country's electorate ahead of the presidential election in the archipelagic nation held in September 2023. Muizzu's inimical stance towards India, however, came under severe criticism from the Opposition and the general public in the Maldives. The MDP and Democrats recently issued a joint statement saying that the Opposition firmly believed that “alienating any development partner and, especially, the country's most long-standing ally will be extremely detrimental to the long-term interests of the country”.
Muizzu also recently gave permission to a Chinese spy ship to dock in capital Male. The vessel, the Xiang Yang Hong 03, in now en route to the Maldives and the ship is expected to dock in Male on February 5. India is said to be closely following developments regarding the Chinese vessel, which is said to be equipped with advanced surveillance equipment. “The Indian Navy is aware of the ship's presence and is monitoring its movement,” News18 quoted defence sources as having said.
The Maldives government was reported by the media to have said in a statement that China had made a “diplomatic request” for “rotation of personnel and replenishment”, adding that the archipelagic nation “has always been a welcoming destination for vessels of friendly countries”. The statement quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as having said that a diplomatic request was put forward by China to Maldives for the necessary clearances to make a port call.
As a double-whammy for Muizzu, MDP candidate Adam Azim won the Male mayoral elections by a landslide this January against Aishath Azima Shakoor of the PNC.
(The author is a Defence, Aerospace & Political Analyst based in Bengaluru)
