Former Home Minister Umar Naseer has said the Maldives government had the right not to reject the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) decision on the maritime dispute between the Maldives and Mauritius.
Earlier in April, ITLOS ruled on a maritime dispute between the Maldives and Mauritius, awarding a significant portion of the overlapping area to Mauritius despite the Maldives receiving the larger share. The opposition sees the ruling as a defeat and alleges that it was influenced by an official letter sent by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Mauritius PM, recognizing the Chagos as part of Mauritius.
Speaking at a rally held by the opposition on Friday night, Umar, who has announced his intention to contest the upcoming presidential election as an independent candidate, said numerous ITLOS decisions had not been implemented due to rejection by various governments.
"The ITLOS decision will only become binding if the Maldives government chooses to accept it," Umar said.
Umar said this government has handed over Maldivian waters to Mauritius and noted that no previous government has claimed that the area belonged to Mauritius. He pointed out that the current government sent a letter to Mauritius during the ITLOS proceedings, acknowledging the disputed area as part of Mauritian waters, a move he believed influenced the ITLOS decision.
"If the Maldives accepts that it is Mauritian waters, the judges of ITLOS will know what that means, even if [President] Ibrahim Mohamed Solih cannot comprehend what he had said," Umar said.
Umar pledged to rescind the letter sent by President Solih to the Prime Minister of Mauritius.
Umar also shed light on accusations that the Maldives' foreign policy was controlled by another country. He said the veracity of these claims became substantiated by how the Maldives handled the territorial dispute. He went on to say that Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, former President Mohamed Nasheed, former President Mohamed Waheed, and former President Abdulla Yameen's government maintained the independence of the Maldives' foreign policy, unlike the current government.
Umar said the ITLOS decision has confirmed that the Chagos archipelago is part of the Maldives. He expressed his commitment to work in the next government to claim it as Maldives territory.
