News Desk
Hundreds of people gathered at Artificial Beach in Malé on Friday night to protest the government’s decision to give 500 hectares of reclaimed land at Rasmalé to Eagle Hills, an Emirati developer. The rally put former President Abdulla Yameen on the same platform as an Islamist former minister, with members of the main opposition party in the crowd.
It was organised by the National Movement, or Qaumee Harakaai, under the slogan “Dhivehinge Bin Dhivehinnah” (Maldivian land for Maldivians). The movement is led by Imran Abdulla, a former home minister and former president of the Adhaalath Party. It launched on 19 October and has held gatherings at the same spot almost daily since. President Yameen’s People’s National Front and the Maldivian Democratic Party have both joined. Earlier on Friday, police said the rally should take place where gatherings are allowed without permission, and that officers would stop anything unlawful.
President Yameen told the crowd the 500 hectares were worth between 400 billion and 500 billion rufiyaa, by his own estimate. He said the deal broke Maldivian law and skipped the public consultation a matter of this size required, and that any government that replaced the current one in 2028, whether his party’s or the MDP’s, would cancel it.
“Even if the land of Rasmalé has been handed over, we will take it back,” he said, addressing Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Eagle Hills. “And we will not pay a single cent in compensation.” He also said the idea of reclaiming Rasmalé came from his own manifesto, not from President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. He called on the police, the army, lawmakers and members of President Muizzu’s People’s National Congress to speak out, and warned that anyone complicit would face prosecution under a future government.
His valuation is far above any other figure in the debate. Converted at about 15.4 rufiyaa to the dollar, it comes to $26 billion to $32 billion. The government puts the value of the whole project at $20 billion, and the infrastructure minister, Dr Abdulla Muththalib, has said the land could be worth $2.9 billion at best. Critics’ estimates have ranged from $7 billion to $24 billion.
Imran said that if the project went ahead as planned, the Maldives would no longer have political parties, and he urged rivals to put aside routine campaigning and unite against it. Ali Hussain, a lawyer and former MP, cited Article 10 of the Constitution, which makes Islam the state religion. He argued that settling foreigners in the planned zones would change the country’s makeup. “Once they become part of the state, once they become citizens of the state, the question that arises is: what religion will they practise?” he asked, calling it a matter of national survival. The Constitution limits citizenship to Muslims, and the bill bans gambling and non-Islamic places of worship in the zones.
Opponents, including President Yameen, have said without publishing evidence that the project would bring Israelis to live on the island, pointing to alleged ties between Alabbar and Israel. At the rally President Yameen addressed him, and what he called “Zionists”.
The government has called the claim a distortion. The real estate bill would void property sales to Israelis or companies with any Israeli shareholding in the zones, and a separate immigration bill would permanently ban Israeli passport holders, along with anyone charged by or subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Before the rally, Maleeh Jamaal, the People’s National Front’s secretary general, urged civil servants, members of the governing party and employees of state-owned companies to attend wearing face masks, to protect themselves from what he called intimidation at work.
President Muizzu has said the state would keep full control of Rasmalé and that the land would be leased for 99 years, as resort islands are. He has said Eagle Hills would deliver 5,000 flats, worth about $500 million, in Hulhumalé before work on the commercial project began. On Monday he ruled out a referendum, saying the bill protects Maldivians’ rights, independence and sovereignty.
The MDP’s national council had voted 57 to 1 for one, over the objections of its chairperson, Mohamed Nasheed, who supports the project.
Online media is abuzz with commentary and competing headlines over the rally’s turnout. Supporters of the project have sought to downplay the crowd size, with one outlet estimating attendance at just 300, while another published a wide-angle photograph of the venue claiming its calculations showed roughly 600 people. Either way, given the persistent drizzle throughout the evening, the turnout tells a different story. The pushback comes shortly after developer Eagle Hills arranged a familiarisation trip for several government-aligned media outlets, with the delegation led by the Chief Government Spokesperson.
