Maldives no longer has right to self-rule: Yameen
He pondered if there was freedom for the country now and posed the question to the army chiefs, to speak the truth.
By
Aminath Shifleen
Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Wednesday alleged that everything going wrong with the country's independence and sovereignty is happening under this regime and that the Maldives no longer has the sovereign authority to take decisions on its own.
Yameen is currently travelling to the islands of Noonu atoll as the opposition candidate for the presidential election in 2023. At a rally held at Magoodhoo, he spoke about the heated topic of the shift in Maldives stand in the case of Chagos territory.
Yameen said that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's main concern now is the sovereignty of Mauritius, but had spoken in Utheemu about the sovereignty of the Maldives. He asked where the president’s concern over the sovereignty of Maldives has gone.
"There is no need to talk about it when sovereignty is lost in one's own house. Who will stand up today and say that Maldivians have the power to govern themselves?," Yameen said.
"There is no power; Maldives does not have that power."
He made the remark saying that this was the real purpose behind what he was doing now, to win the presidential race. He said it was not an attempt to bring his party to power, but an endeavour to "save the country from slavery". He said PPM will take the lead for the cause and if the vote in next year's presidential election becomes a vote for MDP, it would be “the last screw tightened” towards slavery.
"That will be the last screw that is tightened on our coffins. If we reach that point with our senses working and our hearts beating, then it is indeed a matter of great caution", Yameen said.
In his speech, the next concern was that when such major events related to the country's independence take place, the top brass of the armed forces remain silent.
According to Yameen:
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He believes it will be difficult for army generals to raise such topics, but he was more concerned that they continue to remain silent
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He said that soldiers have taken an oath to protect our nationhood, sovereignty and independence, but when matters pertaining to our independence come this far, they have to speak righteously
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If Maldives becomes a colonised country, then it will not be just the soldiers that face issues, but the common man too
In his speech, Yameen recalled how the senior officials of the current government used abusive language against the armed forces when they were in the opposition and maligned their dignity.
"But what's going on today? These folk cannot even raise their sails and step out of their houses without the help of those same soldiers. This is their status," Yameen said.
He pondered if there was freedom for the country now and posed the question to the army chiefs, to speak the truth.
Yameen said he was troubled by the lack of authority in Maldives and the failure of Maldivian journalists to accurately portray the truth of what was going on. What makes it even more difficult, according to Yameen, is that President Solih did not bother to “scratch an itch”.
"That's why I'm saying that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is the biggest threat to our national security," Yameen had said.
