Chagos never belonged to Maldives; not even important: Munawwar
Alleging that the question posed by the journalist was "sent by someone", Azima also spoke, saying it was difficult to not respond to the question.
By
Fathmath Ahmed Shareef
Former Attorney General Dr Mohamed Munawwar said on Wednesday that Chagos in the southern part of the Maldives is never a place under Maldives sovereignty and it is not necessary for Chagos to become a part of Maldives.
The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on Friday sided with the Maldives in the dispute with Mauritius surrounding the delimitation of the maritime boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Maldives and the Chagos archipelago, awarding a bigger portion to the Maldives.
ITLOS noted that the size of the relevant area is calculated to be approximately 92,563 sqkm. The delimitation line allocates to Mauritius 45,331 sqkm and to the Maldives 47,232 sqkm.
Several former ministers and attorney generals and some political parties held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to back the opposition's claim that some parts of the southern Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been lost in the wake of the verdict.
Munawwar chaired the meeting at M. Dhimyaath, where he was accompanied by:
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Former attorney general Azima Shakoor
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Former foreign minister Dunya Maumoon
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Of the two factions that have emerged within the party, former STO Managing Director Hussain Amr on behalf of the Fikuregge Dhirun faction supporting party president Mohamed Nasheed
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Aiminath Nadhira on behalf of MRM, which is part of the ruling coalition but opposes the government in the Chagos case
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MP Ali Hussain from Jumhooree Party (JP), which is part of the ruling coalition but has decided to contest the upcoming presidential election separately
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Vice-President of PPM and Naifaru MP Ahmed Shiyam on behalf of the opposition party
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Party Vice President and Villimale MP Ahmed Usham on behalf of MNP
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A representative of former home minister Umar Naseer, who has decided to contest the presidential election as an independent candidates
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Some former MNDF officers
A journalist questioned why the local maritime law, drafted and implemented when Munawwar was the attorney general, does not include Chagos's EEZ within the Maldives' EEZ when people like speaker Nasheed have been advocating that Chagos is a place of Maldives.
Replying to the question, Munawwar said that if there was a need to press at any time that Chagos is a part of Maldives, it would have been done by successive governments. He said the dispute in the Chagos case began when people started going to the area.
"It's not ours. Never was. Our place is Maldives. We set the country's border and claimed 200 miles from that baseline. That was the claim then," Munawwar said.
Munawwar also added:
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The law defines an archipelagic baseline around the country and a 12-mile area starting from that; a total of 24 miles and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 miles
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The only dispute was with the overlapping EEZ in the north with India and Sri Lanka; a legal solution has been found to address it
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If any part of the country is in conflict with any country, the law does not prevent it from negotiating with that country and reaching an agreement
"It's not about the southern EEZ. The author is telling you now, this is not an interpretation. The provision was included to strengthen the agreement between India and Sri Lanka as mentioned before. There is no other reason," Munawwar said.
Alleging that the question posed by the journalist was "sent by someone", Azima also spoke, saying it was difficult to not respond to the question.
Azima said it was not necessary for demarcation to find out whether Chagos was a part of the Maldives or why it was not previously declared a place in the Maldives.
"Asking if Chagos is a place of Maldives is irrelevant to claim our territorial waters. You have to understand that much," said Azima, who has been charged in connection with the MMPRC scandal during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's administration.
"We are talking about giving up our territorial waters. Asking about Chagos sovereignty is totally different. I just could not resist answering this question."
MNP's Usham also answered the question. He alleged that the question as to why Chagos was never claimed as a place under the country was an attempt by the government to mislead the case.
"My case is that the country has let go of 200 miles under our territory. To answer that question, whether Chagos is a native place, under UK or Mauritius, it does not matter at all," he said.
