Chief of Staff at the President’s Office Ali Zahir has stated the government will no longer allow the continuation of the India Out campaign led by the opposition.
Following a review of the objectives and possible consequences of the India Out campaign, the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Services concluded that the campaign threatens to undermine national security by creating animosity against a neighbouring country. Following this declaration by the parliament committee, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has issued a decree banning the India Out campaign and ordered all relevant state authorities to stop the activities of the campaign.
Speaking to PSM News regarding the presidential decree, Chief of Staff Ali Zahir said stringent action had to be taken due to the heightened dangers of this campaign. Zahir said the decree does not intend to obstruct the freedom of expression granted under the Constitution of the Maldives, noting the decree aims to prevent negative consequences on important diplomatic relations established by the Maldives that can affect the future of the country. He added there is a dangerous hidden agenda behind the India Out campaign and that the government will take the required action to eliminate threats on national security, peace and stability.
In the decree issued on April 21, President Solih said that the India Out campaign activities use the right to freedom of expression and gathering to take away the peace and security in the country and undermine the longstanding friendly relations with India. He accused the campaign organisers of purposely attempting to compromise international efforts to maintain peace in the region.
Furthermore, President Solih said the Government of the Maldives is required to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats in the country as per the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. He also said the government is responsible for fighting against racial and ethnic discrimination under the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Maldives Police Service (MPS) has begun confiscating banners related to the India Out campaign in the Greater Male’ Region. MPS has confiscated banners from three households, after warning them to take down the banners a day earlier. Police officers have also confiscated a 50-foot banner from the house of former President Abdulla Yameen, the leader of the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).