Maldives ex-President Yameen acquitted

The corruption case against Yameen

Yameen’s case involves what was known as the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) scandal, where over USD 90 million was embezzled from the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation, a government body, and were used to cover election costs and broker deals for votes in the Maldives parliament.

This scandal was uncovered in 2016 during an investigation by Al Jazeera, which highlighted that in addition to this, a second deal had been brokered where leases for at least 50 islands in the Maldives were obtained by private companies for development of tourism without public tender and following due process, for the benefit of Maldivian government officials linked to Yameen’s government. The Al Jazeera investigation had implicated Yameen in the case, in addition to several lawmakers.

In the 2018 presidential election, Yameen was defeated by joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Three months later, in December 2018, the Maldives high court seized USD 6.5 million in assets from Yameen. In February 2019, Yameen was charged with theft, money laundering, and giving false statements to police.

In November 2019, the Maldives Criminal Court found Yameen guilty of all charges and sentenced him to five years in prison with an additional fine of USD 5 million owed to the state. The Maldives High Court further upheld the jail sentence in January 2021. Yameen then approached the Supreme Court of Maldives with an appeal and ruled in Yameen’s favor, which led to his release after spending two years and two days in jail.

But in December 2022, the Maldives Criminal Court sentenced Yameen to 11 years in prison and fined him USD 5 million after finding him guilty of corruption and money laundering for charges related to receiving kickbacks. He began serving his sentence in Maafushi Prison, but moved to home confinement in October 2023. Now, his sentence has been overturned by the Maldives High Court on grounds that the trial was unfair, and a retrial has been ordered.

Domestic politics

In 2023, because of his convictions, Yameen lost the opportunity to stand for presidential elections in the Maldives, which were one of the most contentious in the nation’s modern democratic history. His party, the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) had to field Mohamed Muizzu as their presidential candidate for these elections, who went on to win the elections and become the new president of the country.

It would not be a stretch to say that the PPM, which was the Opposition during the 2023 presidential elections, largely won the elections on the back of their massive anti-India political campaign which was called ‘India Out’, a phrase that continues to be used to this day, particularly on social media, which called for the ousting of Indian soldiers from the Maldives who had to been stationed there for handling helicopters and equipment involved in search and rescue operations.

The ‘India Out’ campaigners had prominently used Yameen’s photos on the ground and on social media, and several weeks later Yameen dropped all pretense and came out fully supporting the campaign. During his tenure as President of the Maldives between 2013-2018, the hardliner open preference for Saudi Arabia and China and his hostility towards India became a part of the wider geopolitical battle between New Delhi and Beijing.

This Sunday, on April 21, Maldives will hold its parliamentary elections. The People’s Majlis, or the Maldives Parliament, is a single legislative chamber that passes laws. The last parliamentary elections were held in 2019 and much has changed since then. In addition to the MDP and PPM, several splinter parties have come up over the last five years, who have gained influence in their own right. With the MDP and its factions that have come up since, and are now in the opposition, the main objectives for these parties now involve holding the Muizzu government accountable.

In addition to voting on foreign policy goals of the Muizzu government, Maldivians will also be voting for policy issues including housing challenges, economic challenges, corruption and drug use among youth. Shortly after taking office, President Muizzu said he was committed to a “Maldives First” policy that prioritizes national interests and sovereignty.

In the context of the anti-India campaign and rhetoric that surrounded the elections and his win, along with Muizzu’s decisions after becoming president and his obviously warm relations with Beijing, political analysts have said this can be seen as a straining of ties with New Delhi.