Parliament to summon President Solih over maritime border dispute

Parliament members from the opposition coalition propose to summon President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to provide responses to questions raised by many Maldivians.

In a letter submitted on Tuesday, signed by minority leader of the Parliament Eydhafushi Ahmed Saleem, it was stated that as the Parliament was the power to make the President answerable, they have the constitutional right to summon him.

Furthermore, the letter highlighted that there are no constitutional obstacles to summoning and questioning the President, and that it was necessary to get answers for people’s questions to maintain their rights and peace of the nation.

There are 10 questions included in the letter for which the President is to provide answers.

The questions include;

-        Why was the stance taken by former government regarding the overlapping maritime territory with Mauritius changed?

-        The reason why the sovereignty of Chagos was left to Mauritius in a manner that obstructs the proposal to expand Maldivian continental shelf

-        Why public opinion was not taken into consideration prior to making a decision on the maritime boarder issue

-        Why the letter sent to the Prime Minister of Mauritius was not publicizes, and whether the advise of Foreign Minister and Attorney General was taken into consideration on the letters content.

-        Clarifying why the agreement made with India regarding Uthuruthilafalhu was not publicized

In addition to this, the opposition accused the government of utilizing state funding for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) campaigns, and asked to clarify the matter as well.

“Hence, please arrange to summon the President at the next Parliament sitting, and provide answers to the questions attached with this letter.”

The Parliament’s work is currently halted. The opposition accuses this to be a strategic move of the government to silence them and avoid being answerable, Moreover, they allege that both MDP and the government has no intentions of resolving the issues faced by the Parliament.