Former President of the Maldives Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom has said the opposition's campaign to drive out Indian military personnel in the Maldives, the 'India Out' campaign, cannot be stopped.
In a special interview given to the pro-opposition TV channel, Channel 13, the former president spoke on the main-ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)'s attempts to criminalize the India Out movement. While MDP has drafted a bill to criminalize any activity that negatively impacts bilateral ties established with other countries, Yameen said MDP could pass any bill as they held supermajority in the Parliament. However, no such bill could stop the India Out movement, he said, noting that previous attempts by the government to stop the movement had not been successful.
Yameen said any law that bans the India Out movement would be unconstitutional. If the Parliament passes any such bill, he was curious to know how a court would rule on the matter if it was taken to court, he said.
'Of course they can pass a law. But this [movement] cannot be stopped. This is our basic right,' he said.
Responding to the government's claims that the India Out movement threatened national security, Yameen said the government must explain how the movement was a threat. He said while the government must explain the matter in a way understood by the country's people, the government cannot do it.
Yameen further said the opposition coalition has explained why Indian military personnel or military officers from any country could not be stationed in the Maldives. Giving an example, the former president said the Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defense Force relied solely on India for intelligence. He said this should not be the case, pointing out that any information provided by India would already have been 'filtered' before being shared.
