News Desk
Male’, — The Maldives’ political drama took a darker turn this week. Ibrahim Falah, the majority leader in Parliament, posted a blistering statement on X, accusing a media outlet linked to former President Abdulla Yameen of promoting dangerous rhetoric. The target: a Channel 13 broadcast in which a speaker, following a sermon by Yameen ally and former Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, spoke of wishing death upon President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
“They hope he gets a heart attack,” the speaker said, nodding in apparent agreement. Falah called it a new low.
The scene, as Falah described it, felt ripped from a warped sitcom script. Channel 13, widely viewed as a mouthpiece for Yameen, airs weekly broadcasts not from a polished studio but from what critics sneer might as well be Yameen’s living room. Picture the setup: Yameen and his inner circle perched in the front row, loyal supporters filling the back, a podium ready for fiery speeches. A speaker delivers a statement; then Yameen or a trusted lieutenant takes over.
It’s a ritual, Falah says, designed to stir division. This time, he contends, it crossed a line.
“I’ve never seen people intoxicated at this level,” Falah wrote. He pointed to a history of attacks on Muizzu—coup attempts, name-calling, accusations of theft, even claims of black magic. Now, he says, Yameen’s camp has sunk to praying for the president’s death.
“This is not freedom,” Falah declared, demanding that authorities crack down on Channel 13 and its affiliates.
He didn’t stop there. In a pointed jab, he accused Yameen of preaching from a house “built by looting state coffers,” warning that “justice will soon reach them.”
Falah’s post, paired with a video clip of the Channel 13 segment, is in circulation. But as of now, no police summons or formal investigations have emerged, based on available reports. The Maldives Police Service and the Maldives Media Council have not publicly commented, and searches of local news yield no confirmed actions against Channel 13 or the individuals named. Condemnations from other political figures are also scarce, though the silence may not last.
This is not the first time Yameen’s allies have been accused of inflammatory rhetoric. Channel 13 has long been a thorn in the government’s side, broadcasting critiques of Muizzu’s administration while championing Yameen, who remains a controversial figure despite his 2022 conviction for money laundering and bribery. (He was released to house arrest in 2023 pending an appeal.)
The lack of immediate police action raises questions. The Maldives’ laws on incitement and hate speech are strict, but enforcement is often selective, tangled in political loyalties.
For now, Falah’s words hang heavy—a warning that the sitcom-like antics of Yameens broadcasts may soon face a reckoning.
“There are other floors above them,” he wrote cryptically, hinting at higher powers—perhaps the courts, or divine justice—closing in.
