Nasheed Announces Support for Ras Malé Deal, Shattering MDP Consensus Ahead of Street Protests

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has declared his full and unambiguous backing for the UAE-backed development at Ras Malé, openly breaking ranks with his party’s leadership during last night’s tense emergency council debate.

“If it is being claimed that I said something, then I must address it. I fully support this project, absolutely and completely,” Nasheed told the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) National Council, intervening after several members invoked his name during deliberations on whether to stage mass demonstrations against the deal.

advertisement

advertisement

The former president pushed back sharply against concerns surrounding the 99-year lease of 500 hectares of reclaimed land at Fushidhiggaru Falhu to Abu Dhabi developer Eagle Hills, challenging nativist rhetoric by invoking the nation’s historical origins.

“Some ask: what happens after 100 years? From what I have heard and understood… three sailing vessels arrived in Hoarafushi 300 years ago. One of those vessels remained in Hoarafushi, while another went to Dhuvaafaru. Now, honorable president of the Hoarafushi constituency [Ahmed Saleem], to my knowledge, you are a descendant of the families who arrived on that vessel,” Nasheed said.

He reminded attendees that every member seated in the National Council is among the “proud Maldivian children” of an ancestry shaped by travelers from foreign lands who settled in the Maldives, arguing that turning against foreign investment and external partners contradicts both history and national economic interests.

Expanding on his position in a statement shared on X, Nasheed sounded an alarm over the MDP’s broader ideological trajectory, cautioning that adopting populist and xenophobic narratives undermines its core base.

“A growing number within the party seem convinced that electoral success depends on manufacturing populist outrage and mobilising public sentiment through fear and division,” Nasheed wrote. “Alienating this core base in pursuit of short-term political gains is not only misguided but strategically self-defeating.”

He condemned the weaponization of anti-foreigner sentiment and unfounded political conspiracies, warning that the party risks abandoning the open, liberal principles that historically defined it.

Nasheed’s stance stands in stark opposition to the party’s ascendant hardline wing. Former Economic Development Minister Fayyaz Ismail has pledged that a future MDP government would unilaterally scrap the agreement, branding officials involved as traitors and demanding a public referendum.

Despite Nasheed’s intervention, the National Council voted 57–1 to approve a resolution mandating nationwide street protests if the government refuses to hold a referendum, signaling an open rift between the former president and the party apparatus.