MDP: We see a coup brewing from within the govt

Recent events show a coup brewing within President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration and not one instigated by outside forces, says Fayyaz Ismail, the chairperson of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Fayyaz made the remark in a press briefing held by the MDP on Tuesday afternoon, after President Muizzu accused the opposition of attempting to stage “a financial coup.”

On Sunday morning, the Bank of Maldives (BML) suspended foreign transactions for existing debit cards, as well as new debit and credit cards linked to MVR accounts. It also lowered the monthly limit for standard and gold credit cards to USD 100.

But it reversed the decision within hours, a move the bank said was based on instructions from its regulator, the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA).

The MDP had held a press conference on Sunday, shortly after the BML made its original announcement. Top government officials alleged that the timing of the press conference was “no coincidence”, but was a pre-planned and calculated move to stage a coup.

In the press briefing, Fayyaz called the government’s allegations “ridiculous.”

Fayyaz said that Sunday’s press conference had been a pre-scheduled event, which had nothing to do with BML.

He said that the move by the government to portray BML’s decision as a coup attempt only serves to show the fault lines within the administration.

“And what we see are fault lines within the administration. That there’s trouble brewing within. And we see a coup coming from within in the days ahead,” he said.

Fayyaz said the comments regarding the BML made by top government officials, including President Muizzu himself, were enough to destroy the entire financial system.

“When the head of state comes out and says alleges that the bank he controls conspired with the opposition to stage a coup, this is a huge allegation being made against the Bank of Maldives before the entire global financial community,” he said.

Fayyaz said that it will result in loss of confidence in the bank among international financial institutions and banks.

In a ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) rally on Monday evening, President Muizzu accused the MDP making a preplanned and calculated move to overthrow his administration. He said the party’s activists tried to instigate people into taking to the streets to overthrow his administration by referring to similar coups that have taken place in neighboring countries.

The police announced on Monday it was investigating the opposition for possibly using BML’s later-reversed decision to change card limits for foreign transactions to incite a coup and overthrow the government.

In its original statement announcing the changes to card limits, BML said it was compelled to make the changes because the card usage is much higher than foreign currency it is able to purchase – impacting the bank’s ability to provide foreign currency support to its business customers.

BML’s CEO and Managing Director Karl Stumke said that while the bank purchased approximately USD 60 million in foreign currency from customers this year, the card usage is threefold higher than that.

He said that the card usage impacts the bank’s ability to provide foreign currency support to its business customers.

“…and we have this anomaly where the bank provides 75 percent less foreign currency to the economic sector than we do for discretionary spend on cards dominated by travel and online shopping,” he said. “We have to get the mix correct and ensure we are not squandering a scarce resource.”

Stumke said that the bank has an obligation to protect its depositors and therefore cannot continue to sell more than it is able to purchase.

He acknowledged that the changes will have a significant impact on the bank’s customers.

“We have not taken this decision lightly but have been compelled to take action to ensure we can continue to provide the necessary support for essential economic activities,” he said.