A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.
The Maldives government is “back on the route to success, while maintaining current peace and stability”, President Abdulla Yameen said in his new year message, as former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom criticised his half-brother for the continued authoritarian rule of the current regime. Yameen said the government welcomes the new year with hopes of “achieving […]
Opposition social media activists are squabbling over fake votes and Twitter bots after Gasim Ibrahim beat former president Mohamed Nasheed in a RaajjeTV Twitter poll on Sunday. The poll asked voters which opposition candidate was most likely to beat President Abdulla Yameen: former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader Nasheed, Jumhooree Party […]
The original Dhivehi article was published on Raajje.mv website on 3rd January 2018. The following is a loose translation: – Mandatory to respect UN’s declaration – Can’t ignore this declaration like the Working Group’s ruling – President Yameen scared to contest with Nasheed Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said that he […]
The Elections Commission has not explained the delay in holding by-elections for 12 constituencies that have lacked parliamentary representation for months. The affected constituencies are those where lawmakers were stripped of their seats after being expelled from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM). The EC announced last August there would be by-elections for the […]
The Maldives main opposition will support a presidential candidate from another party if its own candidate is jailed or barred from contesting next year’s elections, one of several official declarations made about 2018’s key poll. Hassan Latheef, the Maldivian Democratic Party’s Chairperson, told media on Sunday that it would push to have its candidate run […]
The original Dhivehi article was published on Rumaalu2.com website on 18th December 2017. The following is a loose translation: After obtaining court approval to get medical treatment for his spine, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is in hiding ever since, fled from the UK to India, to seek their assistance to bring turmoil to President […]
The Local Government Authority (LGA) has issued an exception that allows local councillors to meet foreign organisations involved in government partnerships, after initially banning all contact between foreign diplomats and councils. The LGA explained the exception in a letter sent to city, atoll and island councils on Wednesday. Citing the home ministry, the LGA said […]
Opposition leaders rallied together and called for unity to face the “disaster” in the Maldives, with one former president comparing the current political crisis to the deadly 2004 tsunami. Ex-leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom made the comparison on National Unity Day, which marks the tsunami that killed 82 people in the Maldives. His bold assertion was […]
The original Dhivehi article was published on Avas.mv website on 26th December 2017. The following is a loose translation: On President Abdulla Yameen’s current campaign trips to atolls, referring to the opposition coalition, he says as follows. ‘They are coconuts which cannot be identified from which type of tree it came from and just a […]