Maldives: Pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu to bear brunt of impeachment by opposition parties soon

The Pro-China President of Maldives, named Mohamed Muizzu might soon face impeachment proceedings after the main opposition party the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which holds a majority in the parliament said it has gathered enough signatures to submit the motion. A total of 34 members, including representatives from both the MDP and the Democrats have given their support to the motion for the impeachment of the current president Mohamed Muizzu according to several local media reports.

The Impeachment

The starkly anti-India stance taken by Muizzu government has come under increasing criticism from India friendly opposition parties who recently labelled the shift in the foreign policy as extremely detrimental to the country’s long-term development. The process of impeachment was aggravated after a Chinese spy ship was given a greenlight to dock in the capital, Male by the Muizzu government.

The impeachment move comes a day after a key vote to approve ministers of the Muizzu cabinet erupted in chaos with MPs coming to blows on the parliament floor. The Constitution of Maldives and the Parliament standing orders state that the President can be impeached with 56 votes.

The disruption has been caused by the MPs of the ruling coalition parties such as Progressive Party of Maldives and Peoples National Congress after the MDP and the Democrats refused to approve the appointment of around four ministers. Another session was called later in the night, which also ended in a deadlock. The matter was put on vote one more time early on January 29, 2024 but no solution was reached.

Tensions in the Maldives

Mohamed Muizzu, who came to power in November largely due to his India Out campaign has been pursuing a relentless pro-China policy. He is a staunch follower of former Maldivian president Abdullah Yameen who was also another anti-India leader. Muizzu has asked India to remove all of its 88 military from the island nation by March 2024 and has put under review dozens of pacts inked with New Delhi in the past few years. Quite recently, Muizzu also made his first foreign visit this month by visiting Beijing and signing a string of agreements with the Communist nation.

However, his anti-India stance however has come under heavy criticism in the Maldives. Recently, the Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) and the Democrats jointly issued a press statement reasserting and affirming the opposition belief in alienating any developmental partner and especially, the country’s most long-standing ally will be extremely detrimental to the long-term development of the country.