Attorney General (AG) Ibrahim Riffath said the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) did not include the letter sent by the President of the Maldives to the Prime Minister of Mauritius as documentary evidence in the Chagos dispute. He made the statement while responding to questions at the Parliament regarding the no-confidence motion against him.
At the sitting, AG Riffath said that the President had informed the Prime Minister of Mauritius in the letter that the Maldives will not change its stance on the issues regarding the southern exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the outer continental shelf. He also highlighted that the law cannot be interpreted based on politics and said that previous governments and AGs had failed to resolve the issue.
Additionally, AG Riffath questioned the motive for the no-confidence motion, noting that none of the 13 parliamentarians that submitted the motion were able to identify any specific constitutional violations by the state in its defense of the Chagos dispute.
Opposition members repeatedly attempted to disrupt the sitting, prompting the speaker to suspend the session on two occasions to address their concerns. The questions and statements raised by parliamentarians mainly revolved around political matters instead of the Chagos dispute and pro-government members argued that the no-confidence motion was a ploy to undermine the administration and gain political leverage.