Yameen accuses former allies of hesitance in revoking GMR airport deal

Former President Abdulla Yameen has alleged that several leaders who formed the coalition that ousted President Mohamed Nasheed later hesitated to revoke the controversial agreement with India’s GMR to operate Velana International Airport (VIA).

Speaking at a People's National Front (PNF) meeting on Sunday night, a party member claimed that following President Dr Mohamed Muizzu’s electoral win, efforts were made to engage former President Mohamed Waheed in discussions on facilitating Yameen’s release from prison.

However, Waheed allegedly responded, "Yameen should always be in jail," citing unresolved grievances related to Yameen’s failure to offer him the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) ticket in a previous presidential race.

Following the meeting, the party member reportedly confronted Yameen about Waheed’s role in the events surrounding the GMR airport deal. In response, Yameen dismissed the claim that he had promised Waheed the PPM ticket and clarified that no such conversation had taken place.

Former president Yameen asserted that it was during his administration, not Waheed’s, that the agreement with GMR was officially terminated. The original concession agreement, signed on June 28, 2010, during the Nasheed administration, granted GMR a 25-year lease to operate and develop VIA. The deal sparked national protests and was a significant factor in the fall of the first MDP government in 2012.

Criticizing Nasheed’s government, Yameen claimed that while it brought about freedoms such as the right to protest, it suppressed opposition when dissent turned against the administration. He referred to a series of opposition-led protests that were met with police action and arrests.

Yameen emphasized that key figures in the opposition at the time—including DRP’s Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, JP leader Gasim Ibrahim, Adhaalath Party’s Sheikh Imran Abdulla, and Dr. Hassan Saeed—played pivotal roles in the movement to reclaim the airport.

“We all stood together to take back the airport. Maldivians united in that cause,” Yameen said.

Yameen alleged that President Waheed, who succeeded Nasheed after his resignation in 2012, initially resisted calls to terminate the GMR deal. According to Yameen, Waheed favored amending the agreement to make it more favorable to the Maldivian government rather than terminating it outright.

“Waheed wanted to keep the airport with GMR,” Yameen claimed, adding that only he and Hassan Saeed firmly opposed the proposal during a high-level meeting at the President’s Office. He noted that PPM had submitted two formal letters to Waheed’s administration calling for the cancellation of the contract.

Yameen stated that then-Attorney General Mohamed Anil led the legal and arbitration processes that followed the termination of the deal. “GMR’s USD 320 million transaction was documented and defended in arbitration under Anil’s representation,” he said.

Imran Abdulla, former Home Minister, responded indirectly to Yameen’s remarks in a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying those who truly understand the public movement against GMR were figures like Waheed, Gasim, and others who participated in nationwide protests, press conferences, and public campaigns at the time.

According to Yameen, during the meeting with Waheed, Gasim remained noncommittal, telling Waheed to proceed as he saw fit, while Thasmeen warned that canceling the deal could hurt foreign investor confidence.

Nonetheless, Yameen said Waheed ultimately accepted the advice of his legal counsel and moved forward with terminating the agreement.

The GMR contract was officially terminated in 2012, and USD 271 million (MVR 4.1 billion) was paid in compensation in 2016, during Yameen’s presidency.

Credit for new airport terminal belongs to all three governments: President Muizzu

The new international terminal at Velana International Airport—scheduled to open this Saturday in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of Maldivian independence—was launched during Yameen’s administration.