Maldives Opposition Parties To Boycott President Muizzu’s Address After Slamming His ‘Anti-India’ Stance

Maldives main opposition parties will not attend President Mohamed Muizzu’s address inside the country’s Parliament on Monday.

The two main opposition parties of the country—the Maldivian Democratic Party and The Democrats Party have decided to boycott Muizzu’s address. Earlier, both the parties had slammed Muizzu over anti-India policy. MDP hasn't yet disclosed the purpose of the boycott, however, the Democrats said they have boycotted Muizzu’s address because of the re-appointment of three ministers who had been rejected by the parliament.

After the diplomatic row erupted between India and Maldives last month, the two parties had described India as the country's "most long-standing ally".

In a joint-statement, the two parties accused the Muizzu government of making a "stark pivot towards an anti-India stance".

"Both, the MDP and The Democrats believe alienating any development partner, and especially the country’s most long-standing ally will be extremely detrimental to the long-term development of the country. Consecutive governments of the country must be able to work with all development partners for the benefit of the people of the Maldives, as the Maldives has traditionally done. Stability and security in the Indian Ocean is vital to the stability and security of the Maldives," both the parties had said in a statement.

Last month, tensions between the Maldives and India escalated as the former's ministers made derogatory comments against India and PM Narendra Modi. India registered a formal protest against the ministers over the remarks made over the PM's visit to Lakshadweep.

India had traditionally been the Maldives' closest ally for decades, however after pro-Chinese Muizzu assumed the power, the relations between the two countries have soared.