Parliament accepts motion urging pres Chagos letter disclosure

Parliament on Monday accepted an emergency motion seeking disclosure of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's confidential letter to the Prime Minister of Mauritius last year, ceding that the islands of Chagos, located off the southern coast of Addu, belong to Mauritius.

The emergency motion, submitted by Maduvvari MP and PNC Vice-President Adam Shareef, also called for an investigation into the "alleged sale of part of the Maldives".

The parliament, which has a majority of pro-government lawmakers, adopted the emergency motion with 23 votes in favour. Only 19 members voted against it.

Adam Shareef said Maldivians would oppose giving or selling the amount of "a single inch" from the country's territory  to anyone, whether it is a grain of sand from the country's land or the size of a single inch from the country's waters. According to the motion, the constitution states that any change in the country's territory can be made only through a law passed by two-thirds of the parliament.

"Without disclosing anything to the people and the parliament, Maldives has suddenly changed its stance [on the Chagos issue] and the government's decision that Chagos is a sovereign island of Mauritius and president Solih informing Mauritius about this is causing irreparable damage to the Maldives," he said.

Shareef also pointed out that even MDP lawmakers have been alleging that the country's stand has changed as part of an "unknown deal" by the government.

In addition to disclosing the president's letter to the prime minister of Mauritius, Adam Shareef called on:

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is set to issue its ruling on the demarcation case filed by the Mauritius, on Friday.

The government had earlier said it had no intention of making the letter public.