India should have foreseen the consequences its investments would later face in endorsing a regime consisting of elements that had previously shown its disapproval towards major Indian investments, writes Mohamed Naahee.
Meanwhile, the Indian government is reported to be reconsidering its bilateral aid assistance to the Maldives.
The defence budget proposed in the annual state budget for 2013 submitted to parliament last week is 14 percent higher than 2012.
Following 15.8 percent growth in 2010 and 9.1 percent in 2011, the tourism industry growth in 2012 slowed to below 1 percent, according to the medium term economic and fiscal outlook published by the Finance Ministry with the state budget presented to parliament this week.
“Honourable Speaker, these are traitors to the nation. They have to be killed. If they are not killed and left to live, the country will be ruined. They will destroy the country,” Muthalib declared in parliament.
“Dr Waheed has been scheming with President Maumoon for about two years, that I know of. Sometimes in an uninhabited island in Baa Atoll, other times in Alivaage,” Nasheed said in a rally on Saturday night, claiming that former President Gayoom was planning to back Dr Waheed for PPM’s presidential ticket.
Current political developments in the Maldives have the potential to advance the presidential poll date, as desired and demanded by the MDP, writes N Sathiya Moorthy.
“I have tried contacting the tourism minister since last night but he had been ignoring my calls. Because of the interview he gave to media, now tour operators are cancelling bookings and the staff are not satisfied to continue working in the resorts,” said MP Abdulla Jabir, who owns three of the five resorts concerned.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union has expressed “deep concern at reports of renewed ill-treatment, detention and harassment of the MPs by law enforcement officers as well as shock at the killing of MP Afrasheem Ali in early October”.