India-Maldives Relationship | Maldives parliamentary election to test President’s anti India policy amid tensions dgtl

The issue of bilateral relations between the country and India is casting a shadow on the parliamentary elections of Maldives. Nearly three lakh residents of the Maldives will stand in line to vote on Sunday. In this election, the main opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), will be contested between the People’s National Congress (PNC), the party of the current President of the country, Mohammad Muijzu.

Parliamentary elections are also of special importance in Maldives’ presidential system. Muijju won by defeating the former president of that country, Ibrahim Mohammed Soli, last September. But Soli’s party, the MDP, retains a majority in parliament. As a result, many decisions could not be implemented by the Muizzur government due to the ‘blockage’ of the Parliament. Therefore, by winning this vote, they want to maintain an absolute majority in the Parliament of Maldives.

However, the people of Muijju’s party are saying that the main issue in this election is going to be the geopolitical situation and the position of the Muijju government to deal with it. More specifically, how well Muizzur’s ‘anti-India stance’ and ‘China-closer policy’ are being received by the people of Maldives will be an indication at the ballot box. Indian troops have been phased out of the Indian Ocean island nation since Muijju came to power. Muijju ministers have also courted controversy by making offensive comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Already, opposition parties in the country have opposed the anti-India stance of the Mooijju government, citing Maldives’ old ties with India. However, a section of political observers in the country feel that no party is in a position to secure a single majority in Parliament. But in the meantime, if Muijju’s party gets fewer seats than the opposition parties, it is believed that the president will take a big blow.