While the claim to file a no-confidence motion was talked about at the start of May 2023, in a Press Conference that was held at the Parliament, Edhafushi MP Saleem has now confirmed that a no-confidence motion has been filed against Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath.
The past few weeks have been eventful, to say the least for the Maldives as disputes surrounding the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between the Chagos Islands and the Maldives reached a boiling point.
With Mauritius and Maldives fighting over how much of the zone belongs to which country, on Friday 28th April 2023, a decision was finally reached and the ruling was made with Mauritius being allocated 45,331 square kilometres and the Maldives being allocated 47,232 square kilometres.
Following the decision, politicians and some from the general public started voicing their disappointment in regard to the ruling. Many state that the Maldivian Government could have fought harder for the EEZ zones due to various reasons such as the 200 nautical miles of the territory being defined by law in 1996 and submitted to the United Nations as well as the plain fact that Chagos Islands are not considered as a country or state under international standards meaning that these islands may not have similar rights as other sovereign nations such as the Maldives.
The matter was also further worsened by the fact that the President of the Maldives, in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Mauritius supported the claim that Mauritius has over the Chagos Islands, which is a completely different stance from what the Maldives has been taking on this matter.
With the country previously siding with the UK over the Chagos Island disputes, a petition was filed at the Supreme Court of the Maldives on 27th April 2023 on behalf of the former Home Minister Umar Naseer, Mohamed Musthaq as well as Lt. Col. (Rtd) Zubair Ahmed Manik seeking a declaration that the letter sent by the President of the Maldives to be unconstitutional as Article 3 of the Constitution of the Maldives states that any changes in the territory of the Maldives must be made by a majority of at least two-thirds of the total number of members of the Parliament.
With this, the Maldives National Party (MNP) announced plans of a no-confidence motion against those involved in the Government on the Chagos Island case.
While the claim to file a no-confidence motion was talked about at the start of May 2023, in a Press Conference that was held at the Parliament, Edhafushi MP Saleem has now confirmed that a no-confidence motion has been filed against Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath. Speaking further on this matter, MP Ahmed Saleem further stated that additional names will be revealed in the future as they look further into this matter.
"There will be more names in the future. We are trying to file the case of Foreign Minister Shahid and President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih himself. ”
This no-confidence motion is being supported by the members of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), Peoples National Congress (PNC), Maldives National Party (MNP) as well as some Jumhooree Party (JP) members.
Though the ruling was made in favour of the Maldives on paper, many believe that this ruling caused a major loss to the Maldives as the country has now lost right over part of their ocean that was popularly known for being a good fishing zone. And with many firmly believing that the Government of the Maldives could have fought harder for the rights of the country, many are looking to hold the Government accountable for the loss that they have caused.
