Newly formed Democrats accuse the government of sending an agent provocateur with an 'IndiaOut' banner to the rally held by the anti-government coalition last night in which the party participated.
This came after an anti-India banner was unfurled at the rally at which supporters of former presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Abdullah Yameen participated for the first time ever.
Nasheed has always been a strong advocate against the anti-India campaign activities of the opposition and 'the Democrats' is a party formed from his breakaway faction within the ruling MDP with several high-ranking ex-MDP politicians now at the party.
In a statement, the Democrats said that it strongly condemns the dirty, cheap trick to try and divert the intention of the rally held by all opposition political parties.
It said that it believed that the government was behind sending an agent provocateur with an 'IndiaOut' banner to the rally. It said that the party condemns this duplicitous act to try and portray last night's rally as an event against any of the country's international partners.
The statement read that the Democrats will under no circumstances associate with such a movement, singularly against any of the country's neighbors or international partners.
The Democrats described last night's rally as a gathering of all opposition parties, and key actors coming together to condemn President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and his administration's underhanded and secretive dealings over the delimitation of the sea territory between the Maldives and Chagos.
It said that the rally was a condemnation of the Solih administration's lack of transparency and lack of consultancy with any stakeholders including the Parliament and especially the people of the Maldives in selling out of what was partly a Maldivian ocean territory.
The party highlighted that the government continues to refuse to disclose a secret letter the President sent to Mauritius in ceding the territory.
The Democrats ended the statement by noting that it will continue to work with all major stakeholders, including other political parties on the unlawful, treacherous ceding of the Maldivian waters by the current government and work on all legal avenues to reclaim the territory back for the people of the Maldives.
