When Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu arrived to address Parliament for the first time as President on Monday, the House was almost empty. There are 87 seats in the Parliament of Maldives but only 24 MPs were present during Muizzu’s address. A total of 56 MPs of Maldives had boycotted the President’s first address.
There were 13 Democrat MPs who boycotted and 43 MPs were from the Maldivian Democratic Party. The boycotting MPs said that Muizzoo was running the government of Maldives in an undemocratic manner.
Opposition MPs also keep targeting Muizzu over deteriorating relations with India. Since assuming power, Muizzu has been identified as a pro-China President.
Mohammad Muizzu said in his address that his government will not compromise on sovereignty. He also mentioned India and said that India has agreed to withdraw its troops from Maldives by May 10. However, Muizzu had given an ultimatum to remove Indian troops by March 15. When Muizzu talked about not compromising on sovereignty, his target was towards India.
Muizzu considers the presence of Indian troops in Maldives against the sovereignty of Maldives.
Muizzu on Islam and Divehi language as well as his plans for Maldives
In his address, Muizzu prominently mentioned Islam and the Dhivehi language of Maldives.
Mohammad Muizzu started his address with a quote from Sultan Mohammad Shamsuddin III.
Sultan Mohammed Shamsuddin III had said in a royal statement on 22 December 1932, 91 years ago, “Is it a small thing to remain with Islam? There is no doubt that there is no other religion like Islam in terms of ensuring equality and justice. No proof is needed for this. Is it not important for us that we are running our own government? This is when countries around the world are risking their lives for their rights.”
After quoting Sultan Mohammed Shamsuddin III, Mohammed Muizzu said, “There is no doubt that the future of the Maldives lies in safeguarding Islam and sovereignty. “I assumed the command of the President on 17 November 2023. It has been almost two and a half months since he became the President. My priority in these two and a half months was to ensure the sovereignty and independence of Maldives. I got the support of the people to remove foreign troops from Maldivian land. I also broke those agreements which were weakening the sovereignty of Maldives.”
After coming to power, Muizzu has broken many agreements with India. These agreements were made by the government of Ibrahim Solih, which was said to be pro-India. Muizzu will give 10 days leave in Ramzan
Muizzu said in his address, “Our government will pay special attention to nationalism. We will stick to the principles of Islam and move the society forward on its basis. The National Mosque Council has been re-established. The importance of the mosque has to be increased in people’s lives.
“We will pay special attention to mosques. We have increased the expenditure for the maintenance of mosques to three times. There is a plan to provide training to Imams up to PhD level. Those who are unable to perform Haj due to poverty will be sent for Haj at government expense. Under this scheme, one thousand people will be sent for Haj at government expense. This year 50 people will get this opportunity.”
Muizzu said in his address, “The holy month of Ramzan is coming. For the first time, gifts will be given to all the families of Maldives in the month of Ramadan. The government will give public holiday for the last 10 days of the month of Ramzan. We are going to do this for the first time in worship of Allah. There will also be an Islamic channel which will work for religious awareness, which will maintain Islamic unity. We will strengthen relations with neighboring countries. Especially relations with Islamic countries will deepen further.”
Mohammad Muizzu announced in his address that from this year, the study of Islam and Dhivehi language will be started for Maldivian students studying in other countries.
Maldives is an Islamic country.
Maldives became completely politically independent from Britain in 1965. Three years after independence, Maldives became a constitutional Islamic republic. Since independence, Islam has played an important role in the politics and lives of the people of Maldives.
Islam became the state religion in Maldives in 2008.Land ownership and citizenship in the Maldives are limited to Sunni Muslims. It has been made mandatory in the Constitution that the President and cabinet ministers can only be Sunni Muslims.
According to Maldivian law, criticism of Islam is considered a crime here. Maldives is the smallest Islamic country in the world.
Mohammad Muizzu’s first foreign visit after becoming President was to Turkey. Earlier, the first foreign visit of the new President of Maldives was to India but Muizzu had broken this tradition.
Turkey is a Muslim majority country and the legacy of the Osmania Sultanate is associated with it. On the basis of this heritage, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presents Turkey as the leader of Islamic countries.