Washington Post's investigation: Seeking India's RAW assistance was attempted to topple Dr. Muizzu's administration

Maldives' opposition attempted to solicit India's RAW agent assistance to topple the incumbent President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's administration, a report published by the Washington Post claims.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that talks between opposition leaders and some Indian RAW agents to topple Muizzu's administration, which came onto power with the pledge to remove all Indian military presence from the country, began some time in January, when tension between the two neighbouring countries were most heated.

Following their investigation, the Washington Post said that that the plan, in a paper called the “Democratic Renewal Initiative”, was to bribe 40 members of parliament, including PNC members, to pass a no-confidence motion against President Muizzu.

The Washington Post claims they have obtained a copy of the paper.

In addition to MPs, the paper also includes plans to pay ten senior officers of the Maldives Police Service and MNDF as well as three powerful gangs operating in Maldives to help overthrow President Muizzu's government.

USD six million (about MVR 92.5 million) was allocated for the plan, the newspaper claimed, adding that those behind it were planning to get the funds from India.

However, the plans, which lasted for months in secret, did not materialize because there were not enough members to remove President Muizzu from office.

Savio Rodrigues, a former spokesman for India's ruling BJP, Shirish Thorat, a former Indian police officer who has worked as a private military contractor, were the two main Indian intermediaries in the plans, says Washington Post. They also claim that Thorat was a former advisor against religious extremism during President Mohamed Nasheed's administration.

According to the Washington Post, a close associate of President Muizzu has shared some of the transactions between Thorat and Indian RAW agents with the newspaper. However, the associate did not disclose how they obtained the transactions, the newspaper said.

Both Thorat and Rodrigues confirmed to the Washington Post that they planned to overthrow President Muizzu, but did not say whether they worked officially on behalf of the Indian government.

"Intelligence is part of foreign policy. And in foreign policy, there will be a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C. Sometimes if one way doesn't work, attempts would be made with alternative options," the Post quoted Thorat as saying.

According to the Washington Post, it is unclear how serious the Indian government was about the plot.

However, the RAW agent based in Maldives refused to overthrow the government so early in President Muizzu's rule, the Post quoted a Maldivian politician who regularly frequents the Indian High Commission in Maldives as saying.

India tried to maintain MDP rule!

Prior to President Muizzu winning the election, India also put in a lot of effort to maintain the MDP government, the Post said.

As such, the then Indian High Commissioner to Maldives reportedly repeatedly asked Nasheed to resolve the tension between Nasheed and then President Ibrahim Mohammed Solih (Ibu) and support his bid to renew his presidential term.

When Nasheed refused to oblige, senior Indian government officials arrived in Maldives on a military plane with the plane's transponder turned off and held reconciliation talks with Nasheed and Ibu at Kurumba resort, the post further claims.

The information, along with a photo of the meeting, was shared by a local policeman, Washington Post said.

Alongside this, a large number of Indians came to Maldives to help with Ibu's campaign and stayed at one floor of Mookai Hotel at the time, the Post reported, citing MNDF and local police intelligence.

As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promotion of Lakshadweep, opposition MPs took advantage of the then high standoff between India and Maldives, and held talks about impeaching President Muizzu at opposition discussions and at the Parliament's outdoor umbrella space, the Washington Post said citing six individuals with knowledge of the situation.

However, many of the MDP leadership were hesitant, fearing that the Supreme Court would prevent the removal of President Muizzu and the security forces would come out against the impeachment, the newspaper said, adding that they also feared public dissatisfaction.

According to the Post quoting some sources, former MDP MP from Henveiru South constituency Hussain Shaheem (Andhun Hussain) said that India could raise the money needed to bribe members if the no-confidence motion plan gets support.

"A former official on India’s National Security Advisory Board identified Shaheem as an increasingly important Maldivian interlocutor for RAW," the Washington Post wrote.

If the plan failed, former Kendhikulhudhoo MP Ahmed Esa offered to raise funds from India to bankroll and help MDP win parliamentary elections scheduled for April, the Post quoted sources as saying.

However, both Andhun Hussain and Easa denied the allegations of soliciting funds from India, the Post said.

“There could have been individual Maldivians who might go to India as a proposal, but in reality, we never asked any country for money,” Shaheem said.

“I work closely with Indian officials,” he added, “and India has never disturbed the Maldivian democratic process.”

In addition to the “Democratic Renewal Initiative” document, The Post obtained an internal MDP analysis that forecasted that the party could win 45 out of 95 seats in the parliamentary election as long as it received “additional resources and campaigning” assistance. According to the Post, MDP hoped to secure USD 8 million from India but never received it.

President Muizzu was informed of this plan

The Post says that their findings show that President Muizzu received information that the opposition was planning a big plot and took action against it. The Post said that 11 MDP MPs were brought to PNC's side to thwart the plan.

Both the Indian Foreign Ministry and Presidential Communications Minister Ibrahim Khaleel declined to comment on the matter.

When President Muizzu took office, the opposition MDP had a large majority in Parliament. At the time, some senior PNC members and government officials said on various platforms that there were plans by some to change President Muizzu's government through the parliament.

After coming to power, President Muizzu has made many efforts to improve the Maldives-India relations despite initial strained relations.