Derogatory remarks row: Maldives MP urges parliament summoning for foreign minister and suspended ministers

Maldives MP Meekail Naseem has proposed Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and suspended ministers Malsha, Maryam Shiuna, Mahzoom Masjid to be summoned by the Maldives Parliament. Speaking to WION's correspondent Sidhant Sibal, he said, "So the foreign minister will be summoned to the Parliament floor, and the rest of them, the deputy ministers who have been involved in making these derogatory remarks, they'll be properly summoned to the parliamentary committee, which is a Committee on Foreign Relations."

The suspended ministers had made derogatory remarks on PM Modi and India. In the aftermath of the incident and uproar, the Maldives government had suspended them and termed the views "personal".

The MP said, "I am appalled but not shocked at what has happened. The current government and its officials constantly spill anti-India sentiments and rhetoric and that's what got them the government." Naseem is from opposition MDP party, which was the previous ruling party.

WION: You have asked the Maldives Parliament to summon the Maldives FM and suspended ministers, how does it happen?
Meekail Naseem: Yes, it will most definitely happen. So we gave the government I think sufficient time to take action and to issue a formal apology but we did not see that happen. And I think it is now time for the parliament to intervene and question them as to why they have been not taking this issue as seriously as they should be, and what more is being done by the government to resolve the matter and bring a closure to this diplomatic row that is being created by some social media activists as well as senior officials of the current ruling party.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

WION: So the summoning, will it happen in the parliament or before a specific panel of the parliament?
Meekail Naseem: So the foreign minister will be summoned to the Parliament floor, and the rest of them, the deputy ministers who have been involved in making these derogatory remarks, they'll be properly summoned to the parliamentary committee, which is a Committee on Foreign Relations.

WION: So essentially, do you think that the government will give in to the parliamentary demand because primarily so far we have seen only suspension of the minister? We haven't seen any termination. We haven't seen any apology from the government. So do you think that the government will give into it or they will be resistant to this demand?
Meekail Naseem: Well, I do not know how the government intends to proceed. But I think it is basic decency at this point to just issue a formal apology and distance themselves from what the deputy ministers in the government have said. But I think that is not sufficient to just issue a vague statement as they did, which did not even mention what had happened, to whom it had happened and who did it, that none of this was mentioned. It was a very vague statement issued by the government which was quite frankly, embarrassing to the rest of us and I think it is time that the government was held to account. I think the deputy ministers who have made these careless remarks should be held to account and I don't think that the Maldivian people deserve to have such people representing us in such key positions I think this warrants a sacking and they should be fired immediately, in my view.

WION: So we have also team demands of a no-confidence motion against the president. We have seen MPs pointing this out to that on social media. Do you think that this is something that is feasible and will your party support it?
Meekail Naseem: Well, recently, we have lost a number of MPs and so our majority has slimmed down, but it's still possible. The numbers will add up with, I think, other opposition parties representing constituencies within the parliament. I think the numbers are sufficient, but whether there is a willingness from either side to push it till the very end. I think that's the real question. Whether there is the political will to do this.

WION: So when it comes to this entire incident, how do you think that this incident has impacted your foreign policy?
Meekail Naseem: Well, to be frank, I am appalled but not shocked at what has happened. The current government and its officials constantly spill anti-India sentiments and rhetoric and that's what got them the government. So I think in their view, in their personal view, it wasn't very, it wasn't a very odd thing to do, it was what they've been doing for years and years. And I think what we're seeing is just a culmination of the systematic effort to harm India in the perception of Maldivians and to harm the relationship that has been a time tested age-old relationship which we have had, regardless of the political party that was in government, regardless of who was the President. We have held this relationship. We have held an India-first policy but this is the first government that we are seeing that is behaving so recklessly and refusing to even own up to what it has done.