The Government of the Maldives has stated that the opposition is attempting to misinform the public about the Chagos Islands dispute with Mauritius in order to make it a political issue.
At a press conference, the Spokesperson at the President’s Office Miuvaan Mohamed criticised the claims made by the opposition that the government had made a deal to side with Mauritius. He highlighted that the opposition’s main claim is that all government decisions are based on money and bribes but that all evidence shows that the dispute has nothing to do with money. He criticised politicians and legal professionals for not looking into the case thoroughly.
Spokesperson Miuvaan noted that the previous administration of President Abdulla Yameen in 2017 and the current administration in 2019 voted against Mauritius, but that decision was also criticised by the opposition. He said the opposition had claimed voting against Mauritius would harm the national interest.
Spokesperson Miuvaan further said the Maldives was one of the few countries that voted against the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019 for the United Kingdom (UK) to hand over control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. He added that Mauritius does not stand to lose or gain anything from the Maldives voting for the country now, so there would be no need to make any deal.