A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
India has scotched rumours of a rift with the Maldives, saying the two countries enjoyed a close relationship with shared development and security interests. External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar made the remarks Thursday after a scathing anti-India editorial appeared on a Maldivian pro-government website. The main opposition MDP, which condemned the editorial, described Vaguthu as […]
The Maldivian people want to restore democracy with a national unity government at the helm, Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim tweeted from exile Wednesday. After meeting with former MDP chairman Ali Waheed, former vice president Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, and JP deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim in Germany, the business tycoon and disqualified lawmaker tweeted: “The […]
An editorial attacking India and branding its prime minister a “Hindu extremist” has been pulled from a pro-government website. The Vaguthu article blasted India, saying it was not a best friend but an enemy and that it viewed the Maldives with “envy, self-interest and hostility.” It provoked condemnation from two former presidents, Mohamed Nasheed and […]
The US$200 million China-Maldives Friendship bridge will be completed in the first week of July, a government minister has said. The bridge will span from the capital Malé’s eastern edge to the western corner of the island of Hulhulé. Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muiz said the project was on schedule. Just completed a comprehensive progress […]
Five ministries have broken the law by not responding to right to information requests from the Maldives Independent, which wanted to fact check claims made by President Abdulla Yameen. Yameen challenged “political leaders who say they do not see development” at a November 17 rally marking the four-year anniversary of his government. He said his […]
The joint-opposition coalition has condemned a pro-government news website for attacking India’s prime minister and promoting anti-India sentiments. The editorial, published in Vaguthu, was titled “India is not a best friend, but an enemy!” and said the way India treated the Maldives had changed despite the “heart-to-heart” relationship the two countries had traditionally enjoyed. India […]
There those who are “jealous” of the Maldives’ for being a 100 percent Muslim country, the president said Wednesday in an address to mark the anniversary of the country’s embrace of Islam. President Abdulla Yameen said that staying steadfast in the path of Islam was a “religious and national duty” for all Maldivians and that […]
Jailed former vice president Ahmed Adeeb cannot be transferred from jail to house arrest, Maldives Correctional Services has told his family. Adeeb’s family asked for the the transfer, saying his doctors had ordered him to live in a dust-free place and refrain from lifting heavy objects. His wife said dust was in his cell and […]
The number of Chinese holidaymakers visiting the Maldives increased in November for the first time in three years. Some 21,195 Chinese tourists were recorded during the month, up 11.8 percent from November 2016, according to statistics released Tuesday by the tourism ministry. However, a total of 286,612 Chinese arrivals as of November represented a seven percent decline […]