Parliament has denied a local media report that made allegations saying that the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed is making a deal to secure safe passage for former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family.
Local media 'The Maldives Journal' had published a report saying that after Rajapaksa had resigned as Prime Minister, he had made a call to Nasheed. The media had cited a senior Maldivian government official and had further said that Rajapaksa requested Nasheed to make arrangements so that his family can stay in the Maldives until the situation in Sri Lanka calms down.
The report goes on to allege that Nasheed had proposed that Rajapaksas purchase a private residence in Soneva Fushi, a property owned by India’s Sonu Shivdasani who the newspaper said was close to Nasheed.
This comes after Nasheed was appointed by Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to coordinate international relief efforts for Sri Lanka which is in turmoil due to its recent economic downfall.
Today, the Parliament denied the local media's allegations saying that the Speaker's role in Sri Lanka is limited to seeking assistance and nothing more.
It further said Nasheed will continue to try his best to attract financial assistance for Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's internal matters are for the Sri Lankan people to settle.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Soneva, Sonu Shivdasani said in a tweet that former Sri Lankan Prime Minister and President Rajapaksa was not in discussions to buy a villa at any Soneva property.
He added that neither is any member of the former president’s family in discussions to buy a villa.
