14th May 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party calls for the immediate release of protesters — many of whom are MDP members — arrested last night in Malé by police at a demonstration against President Muizzu's crackdown on press freedom in the Maldives. This past week alone has seen: The issuance of an overreaching and vague gag order by the Criminal Court against all Maldivian citizens, prohibiting them from directly or indirectly speaking about allegations of misconduct against President Muizzu as broadcast in a documentary produced by Adhadhu MV last month. Charges of Qazf levied against the CEO and Editor of Adhadhu MV and the former President's Office staff allegedly depicted in the documentary. The forceful expulsion of an Adhadhu MV journalist from the President's Office for asking President Muizzu a question regarding call records between himself and an individual he is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with. This journalist was subsequently charged with contempt of court, where his fair trial rights were violated in that he was not given adequate time to access legal representation, and was sentenced to 15 days in jail. A second Adhadhu MV journalist was jailed for 10 days for simply reporting on the issuance of the gag order. MDP MP Meekail Naseem submitted an emergency motion to Parliament to discuss the ongoing crackdown and was removed from the Parliament floor. The Criminal Court, at the request of the Prosecutor General — appointed by President Muizzu and endorsed by a Parliament dominated by his party — has ordered that all proceedings be held in camera. This again prevents the monitoring of the trial to ensure fair trial rights are being upheld and closes off further avenues for accountability. Legitimate protests in response to this latest escalation of President Muizzu's attacks on press freedom and democratic values in the Maldives have been met with further arrests. The jailing of journalists in the Maldives was a thing of the past, but as the Muizzu administration continues its systematic reversal of the Maldives' hard-fought democratic gains, it will soon become a common occurrence. MDP demands the immediate release of all journalists and protesters arrested last night, and calls on President Muizzu and state authorities to abide by the constitutional rights accorded to all Maldivians.
12th May 2026
The Maldives Criminal Court on Sunday issued a sweeping gag order against all Maldivian citizens, banning them from discussing or expressing opinions about a documentary broadcast weeks ago that highlighted allegations of sexual misconduct against President Muizzu. The order means that no ordinary citizen may speak about, discuss, report on, or engage in any way with the case or anything connected to it. The Election Commission subsequently instructed all political parties to comply with the order or face contempt of court. In an extraordinary show of overreach, the order bans the further circulation, discussion, or broadcast of the documentary Aisha, and follows the levying of criminal charges against the CEO and Deputy Editor of Maldivian news outlet Adhadhu MV. Journalists are being charged with a hudud crime (Qazf) merely for broacasting a documentary depicting a third party's account of Presidential misconduct. These are not the circumstances in which such serious charges are meant to be levied, and this action demonstrates the President's desperation to avoid accountability in the face of significant allegations of misconduct. These incidents were compounded yesterday by the President's Office's forceful removal of an Adhadhu MV journalist from the President's press conference for daring to question him about these events. Journalists at the President's Office also reported being asked by security personnel to hand over their devices to prove they had not recorded the removal of their colleague — and, if they had, to delete any such recording before being permitted to leave the premises. MDP is deeply concerned by the subsequent actions being taken against journalists simply for doing their job. In the latest such incident, a further Adhadhu MV journalist has been summoned for questioning on suspicion of contempt of court — for no other reason than reporting on the case. This is an unacceptable assault on the freedom of the press. These are a series of state-sanctioned actions designed to repress legitimate scrutiny of President Muizzu's conduct and to silence press freedom and freedom of expression in the Maldives. The Maldivian Democratic Party calls upon President Muizzu to cease using state institutions for personal vendettas and to ensure the full restoration of press freedom in this country.
12th May 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) condemns in the strongest terms the jailing of Adhadhu MV journalists Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release. One journalist was jailed for reporting on a court order. The other was jailed for asking a question. These are not crimes. They are the basic functions of a free press, and their prosecution is a direct and deliberate attack on independent media in the Maldives. MDP notes with serious concern that both journalists were denied access to legal counsel and given no adequate time to prepare a defence. This is a gross violation of their fair trial rights and a contempt for due process. These arrests are part of a pattern of state-sanctioned action designed to suppress legitimate scrutiny of President Muizzu's conduct and silence the press. MDP calls on our international partners to engage urgently with the Maldivian government and send a clear message about the deteriorating state of democratic governance. We call on the authorities to release Mohamed Shahzan and Leevan Ali Nasir immediately, and to uphold the constitutional rights that protect a free press.
9th May 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expresses grave concern over the ongoing medicine shortage across the Maldives, a crisis created by President Muizzu through politically motivated short sighted policies. The resulting hardship inflicted on patients with chronic and in some cases life-threatening conditions who cannot obtain their prescribed medications is immense. MDP Members of Parliament have consistently raised these issues in the People’s Majlis to no avail. For years, the State Trading Organisation (STO) has complemented medicine imports serviced by the private sector without the shortages Maldivians face today. This system held fast even during the challenges presented by the global Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Rather than implementing meaninggul structural reforms, the Government’s decision seem to be driven not by genuine policy need, but by its desire to place control of a sector worth hundreds of millions of rufiyaa in annual public spending into the hands of political loyalists. (1) This government took the first delivery of the bulk medical procurement initiative by the previous MDP government, but failed to continue this initiative with no further deliveries. (2) This government called the private sector a "medical mafia" and went onto undercut the national Aasandha insurance prices for medicines, ignoring the calls by the private sector about the inherent risks related to supply. STO has been woefully inadequate in addressing the turmoil in the resulting medicine supply chain inadequacies. (3) STO signed with a key Indian pharma manufacturer, only for the government to create a new dedicated SOE for the procurement of medicine. (4) The new SOE has failed to secure medicine supplies, while STO continues sign with new medicine suppliers. (5) On the 5th of May, the MD of Aasandha Ms Aminath Zeeniya, testified to parliamentary committee that stock-out complaints arrive daily, and that the medicine supply situation is a national concern whose root cause has not been identified. (6) UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng on her official country visit to the Maldives, shared at a press conference on 7 May 2026, that the Maldives faces significant challenges in procuring essential medicines and medical equipment required for the healthcare sector, consistent with the concerns the MDP has been raising. This is not public policy implementation. These are ad-hoc decisions made to reward political loyalists. Most of all, it is catastrophic failure of the Muizzu administration, inflicting immeasurable hardship on patients across the health spectrum. Numerous promises by President Muizzu to address this issue has failed to reverse the decline. The MDP calls upon the Government to cease the use of public health infrastructure as an instrument of political patronage and institute technically sound policies. The MDP also calls upon Government affiliated Members of Parliament to join the MDP in holding the Government accountable in this important national matter. The MDP further requests the international community including UN agencies to continue to monitor the Maldives' compliance with its right-to-health obligations. The MDP stands with and assures the people of Maldives that MDP will continue to hold the Government accountable and work to resolve this crisis.
4th May 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expresses grave concern over credible reports that Maldivian nationals residing in Sri Lanka have been subjected to questioning, and intimidation, in connection with President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's ongoing official visit to Colombo. According to accounts received by the party and reported in the press, Sri Lankan police visited the private residences of at least four Maldivian nationals, including a former official of the Maldives High Commission who served under the previous government, apparently at the instigation of or in coordination with the current Maldivian administration. During these visits, individuals were questioned about their political views regarding President Muizzu, told not to attend a reception being held this week for President Muizzu to meet Maldivian nationals residing in Sri Lanka and presented with a statement written in Sinhala, a language they do not understand, and asked to sign it. In at least one case, a residence and personal devices were searched for approximately two hours. Prior to these visits from the Police, individuals received calls from the Maldives High Commission in Colombo extending an invitation to attend an event with President Muizzu. The individual who reported this incident to the press stated that he had repeatedly declined the invitation, but that he was told by the Police that if they did attend, they would be arrested. The Police had in their possession photographs of the individuals and their personal details, including details of their permanent residences in the Maldives. This conduct raises serious questions relating to the High Commission of Maldives in Sri Lanka and the Maldivian Government with respect to the monitoring of political views of Maldivian national abroad. These incidents lie firmly outside the boundaries of regular security assessments conducted prior to high level visits. Maldivians living abroad retain every right guaranteed to them under the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives, including freedom of expression. The MDP calls on the Government of Maldives to immediately cease all surveillance and intimidation of Maldivian citizens abroad, to provide a full and transparent account of its conduct during this visit, and to ensure that no individual faces no unlawful repercussions for expressing their political views.
29th April 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expresses its profound disappointment at today’s decision by the Supreme Court's to uphold the anti-defection legislation introduced and passed by President Muizzu's administration through its parliamentary majority. This deeply troubling ruling by the Supreme Court only serves to validate President Muizzu’s undemocratic overreach into the legislature, and undermine the independence of the Parliament. This case and the proceedings demonstrate President Muizzu’s blatant interventions to circumvent constitutionally stipulated separation of powers. Starting with legislation to suppress the independent of elected Parliamentarians, and consolidated with direct interventions by the Executive to revise the composition of the Supreme Court bench. The Supreme Court bench that delivered this ruling is not the bench before which the case was originally brought. Following executive interference in the composition of the Judicial Services Commission and revisions to the bench itself, hearings were suspended indefinitely, only to resume after a gap of one year, one month, and twenty-six days. The revised bench then proceeded to rush through the proceedings to conclude within days. The final hearing, held on 14 April 2026, lasted approximately seven hours. Within that limited time, the Plaintiff and the Intervening Party were not afforded adequate opportunity to present their submissions — a concern that was raised by the parties during the hearing itself. Given the legal novelty and constitutional significance of the arguments advanced, the Plaintiff requested an additional hearing to present further submissions. That request was denied, without explanation. While the MDP notes with appreciation that Justice Shujune's dissenting opinion directly and precisely engaged with the constitutional arguments placed before the Court, the majority opinion failed to meet the case on its own terms. The question before the Court was not whether anti-defection rules are desirable in principle, nor whether such mechanisms have merit in comparative constitutional law. The question was specific: whether this particular amendment violated the basic structure and foundational elements of the Constitution of the Maldives. The majority opinion's departure from this core question is not a legal technicality. It is a failure to adjudicate the matter that was actually brought before the Court. Furthermore, the majority opinion acknowledged that the entire purpose of the Sixth Amendment was its retrospective application to the incumbent People's Majlis — justified, in the State's own submissions, by the pressing need to address floor-crossing. Yet the same majority chose to set aside the State's concurrent position that Section 73 of the amendment cannot, in fact, be implemented at present, on the basis that the legislation required to give effect to the removal of sitting MPs from their parties has not yet been passed. This is a fundamental inconsistency: the State cannot simultaneously assert an urgent constitutional necessity that justified bypassing democratic process, while also acknowledging that the mechanism it rushed into law remains inoperable. President Muizzu’s latest intervention to dismantle the Maldives democratic structures comes after the Government was handed a resounding defeat in the referendum held earlier this month where the Government lost its campaign to change the constitution to merge the Presidential and Parliamentary elections. This result, which is widely perceived as a reflection of the public’s disapproval of President Muizzu and his Government has not led to a reform of the Government but rather a doubling down by the Government of its suppression of the Maldives independent institutions.
29th April 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) expresses grave concern over the continued and escalating actions taken by the Maldives Police Service against Adhadhu, an independent online news outlet in the Maldives, and its journalists, following the publication of a documentary alleging a sexual relationship between President Muizzu and a former staff member of the President’s Office. The initial police raid on Monday night has been followed by the confiscation of journalists’ electronic devices, and the summoning of senior editorial leadership for questioning. The raid and actions against Adhadhu has been so wide ranging that it seems designed to suppress the entire operation of the outlet. Adhadhu Editor Hassan Mohamed and CEO Hussain Fiyaz Moosa were both summoned by police today for questioning in connection with the same investigation, with multiple criminal charges now filed against Hassan. Travel restrictions have also been imposed on both individuals, further intensifying concerns about the use of disproportionate and coercive measures against media professionals. Reports from journalists at Adhadhu indicate that the warrant used in the initial raid did not clearly specify the scope of the search or the alleged violation under investigation. Following the raid there has been a concerted effort by Government officials, including senior cabinet Ministers, to portray Adhadhu’s broadcast as a baseless character assassination of the President, even justifying the raid on Adhadhu and its journalists as an enforcement of responsible media standards. The MDP calls on the authorities to cease these baseless and trumped up charges against Maldivian journalists and uphold the values of press freedom in line with the Maldives domestic and international requirements.
27th April 2026
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) strongly condemns the ongoing police raid on the offices of Adhadhu, an independent online news outlet in the Maldives, following the publication of a documentary which aired serious allegations against President Muizzu. Although Police entered the newsroom under a court order, the overarching nature and vagueness of the warrant is of serious concern especially in relation to actions that place vilolate the rights of a free press. Reports from journalists indicate that the warrant does not clearly specify the scope of the search or the alleged violation under investigation. The Police are also reportedly confiscating electronic devices belonging to the news outlet. The raid follows the outlet’s broadcast of a documentary featuring a young woman, whose identity was protected, making allegations relating to the President. The appropriate response to such reporting in any democratic society is a transparent and independent process, not actions that risk intimidating the press. This development must also be viewed in the context of recent legislative changes, including the forcing through of a media control law that grants broad and loosely defined powers over the media. Taken together, these actions risk creating an environment where independent journalism is constrained and scrutiny is discouraged. A free press is fundamental to any democratic society. Journalists must be able to investigate, report, and publish without fear of retaliation. The MDP calls on the authorities to uphold the principles of press freedom, ensure that any actions taken are proportionate and grounded in the rule of law, and refrain from measures that undermine public confidence in democratic governance.
4th April 2026
As the Maldives prepares for tomorrow’s local council elections and the referendum on amending the Constitution to merge the holding of Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the Maldivian Democratic Party raises serious concern over the systematic campaign of intimidation, bribery, and abuse of state resources being waged by the Government of President Mohamed Muizzu and the ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) to manipulate the outcome of both votes in their favour. These concerns include: 1. A Rushed and Undemocratic Constitutional Change President Muizzu has used the PNC’s supermajority in Parliament to force through a constitutional amendment merging presidential and parliamentary elections — a fundamental restructuring of the Maldives’ democratic architecture designed to centralise the President’s hold on power. The amendment received just a few minutes of scrutiny in the parliamentary committee and only two hours of debate on the floor of the People’s Majlis, with no substantive discussion whatsoever. This is not democratic deliberation; it is the railroading of the Constitution. The decision to hold the referendum on the same day as local council elections is a calculated tactic to bury a hugely consequential constitutional question beneath the logistics of a nationwide local vote. Citizens are being asked to approve a permanent change to the balance of power without any structured opportunity to understand what is being asked of them. 2. Failure of State Institutions The Elections Commission of the Maldives has itself acknowledged that it has been unable to carry out the public awareness programmes mandated by law ahead of this referendum. The Commission’s constitutional duty — to “educate and create awareness among the general public on the electoral process and its purpose” — has gone unfulfilled on a matter of the highest constitutional consequence. Public Service Media (PSM), the state broadcaster, has equally failed in its constitutional obligation to educate the public on the referendum and to ensure equal airtime and opportunity for both sides of the debate. The “No” campaign has been consistently denied fair and equal coverage. In a country where state media remains the primary source of information for a large portion of the population, this failure is not merely negligent — it amounts to the deliberate suppression of democratic debate at the direction of the ruling administration. 3. Vote-Buying, Bribery, and Abuse of State Resources The Government’s campaign of electoral bribery in the lead-up to tomorrow’s vote has been brazen and unprecedented in its scale and visibility: Freezing of public housing rental payments. Just five days before the election, the state-owned Housing Development Corporation waived two years of rental payments on Hiyaa public housing flats, granting each household an MVR 200,000 discount against outstanding rent, with no payments due until May 2028. The timing of this announcement — days before voters go to the polls — leaves no doubt as to its purpose. Distribution of gifts and cash for votes. Reports from across the country detail the distribution of Umrah pilgrimage trips, washing machines, and direct cash payments to citizens in exchange for their votes. Job distribution and threats to public sector workers. The Government has weaponised public employment, distributing jobs in state-owned enterprises and government agencies to supporters while issuing direct threats to those already employed in the public sector and SOEs that they will lose their positions if they vote against the Government’s preferred outcome on the referendum. Ruling party candidates routinely offer several SOE jobs per constituency, often for roles that do not even exist. Police salary increases. Last week, the Government increased salaries for the Maldives Police Service — a move whose timing, on the eve of a sensitive election, speaks for itself. These acts of electoral largesse are taking place at a time of acute economic hardship for ordinary Maldivians, making the exploitation of citizens’ vulnerability all the more unconscionable. 4. Economic Recklessness and Lack of Transparency The above acts of pre-election spending are taking place against a backdrop of severe fiscal fragility. Late on Thursday evening — the eve of the election and the start of the Maldivian weekend — the Government announced that it had settled the USD 500 million sovereign sukuk maturing on 8 April, together with the final coupon payment of approximately USD 25 million. While this repayment averts the prospect of default, the Government has provided no meaningful transparency on critical questions, including details on how the payment was financed and what remains in the nation’s usable foreign currency reserves following the settlement, and whether it can withstand short-term external pressures — including the economic disruption arising from the ongoing conflict involving Iran and its effects on global energy and commodity markets. Tomorrow is a defining moment for the Maldives’ democracy. We call on the international community, diplomatic missions accredited to the Maldives, international and domestic election observers, and civil society organisations to monitor developments closely throughout polling day and to document and report any instances of intimidation, vote-buying, or interference with the free exercise of the ballot. Above all, we urge the people of the Maldives to turn out in the highest possible numbers. In the face of a government that has sought to buy, threaten, and manipulate its way to the outcome it desires, the most powerful response is the one it cannot control: the voice of a determined electorate. The MDP calls on the people to hold this Government accountable, and to come out and vote.