Petition seeks recall of pres 'secret letter' over Chagos dispute
The petition also alleged that the transaction was a "secret deal worth USD 500 million".
By
Mariyam Umna Ismail
Anti-government sections have begun obtaining signatures for a petition to be submitted to the parliament calling on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to recall his "secret letter" to the prime minister of Mauritius in which the Maldives broke away from its long-held stance and backed Mauritius' sovereignty over the Chagos islands.
Mauritius maintains that Chagos, annexed in 1965 by the British, falls under its sovereignty.
In the case:
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In 2019, after seeking prior advice from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it was suggested that the islands of Chagos were under Mauritius sovereignty
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In the same year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on Britain to hand over Chagos to Mauritius within six months
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Based on the ICJ's recommendation, Mauritius went to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) to demarcate the disputed territorial waters between Maldives and Chagos
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The Maldives had voted against the UN resolution at the time, but in August 2022 its stand was changed to that of Mauritius
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In August, President Solih wrote a letter to the prime minister of Mauritius, declaring that the Maldives recognises Chagos as part of Mauritius
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The government had earlier said it had no intention of making the letter public even though the issue had heated up and became a major debate
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Opposition files complaint in Parliament seeking disclosure of letter; no progress has been made
Maafannu Central MP Ibrahim Rasheed is leading the process of submitting a petition to the parliament demanding the withdrawal of president Solih's letter to Mauritius on the Chagos case.
Rasheed said that due to the government's decision to recognise Chagos as part of Mauritius:
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Maldives will be deprived of a 150-mile ocean territory, including air space and the underwater riches within the territory, which has already been enjoyed by Maldivians
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There are fears that the country's fishing industry will come to a standstill and the country will go to a state where the people will be on the brink of starvation
According to the petition, the "end result of this deceptive decision" of the government would be to "give up the monopoly of fish exported by Maldivians to the EU to Mauritius and to forgo a reduction in duties on the fish exported to the EU".
The petition also said that it was a "secret suppression of the constitutional authority of the republic, the parliament and the people".
The petition also alleged that the transaction was a "secret deal worth USD 500 million".
At the time, the government had said that in the case of Chagos, the government was trying to acquire the largest area available to the Maldives from the disputed area.
The verdict in the case will be pronounced on April 28.
