Maldives leader demands ouster of President Muizzu over strained ties with India

A Maldives leader, parliamentarian no less, has demanded President Mohamed Muizzu's ouster from his post as the country battles a diplomatic row with longstanding ally India. Ali Azim, Parliamentary Minority Leader in the Maldivian parliament has made this demand publicly, taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Though he does not explicitly mention India in his post, he has indicated that a vote of no-confidence be held against President Muizzu.

"We, d Democrats, r dedicated to upholding d stability of the nation's foreign policy n preventing d isolation of any neighboring country. R u willing to take all necessary steps to remove prez @MMuizzu from power? Is @MDPSecretariat prepared to initiate a vote of no confidence?" says Azim's post in English.

We, d Democrats, r dedicated to upholding d stability of the nation's foreign policy n preventing d isolation of any neighboring country.
R u willing to take all necessary steps to remove prez @MMuizzu from power? Is @MDPSecretariat prepared to initiate a vote of no confidence?

India and the Maldives, traditional allies with the former being a major benefactor of the latter, are going through a phase of strained bilateral relations. The tensions came to the fore after Maldivian ministers' derogatory remarks against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media a few days ago. Since all this has happened under the presidency of Muizzu who is perceived to be leaning towards China, the entire affair has assumed grave political connotations.

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Just a few days ago, Maldivian deputy minister of Youth Empowerment Mariyam Shiuna took to X to post a disrespectful reference to PM Narendra Modi who visited Lakshadweep Islands, an Indian archipelago close to the Maldives which itself is an archipelago nation.

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PM Modi was on a tour of the Lakshadweep Islands, a trip which was seen to have a political signal to the Maldives.

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But Maldivian ministers faced widespread flak and ridicule online for personal attacks on PM Modi and even the Maldivian government distanced itself from the disrespectful posts. Maldives has even suspended the ministers giving them a stern warning.

“All government officials responsible for the comments have been suspended from their post effective immediately,” Ibrahim Khaleel, spokesperson for the president of Maldives said earlier.

The controversial posts have been deleted but the screenshots are being circulated widely online keeping the issue alive.

The personal attack in language not even remotely parliamentary created anger among the public in India with many demanding to 'Boycott' Maldives which is a tropical holiday destination for Indian tourists. A large part of Maldives' revenue comes from its tourism industry.

(With inputs from agencies)