The Bank of Maldives and the opposition have been accused of trying to overthrow the country's president.
The Bank of Maldives' imposition of restrictions on foreign exchange transactions and the resulting discontent in the country, President Mohamed Muizzou declared interconnected actions and an “attempted coup”, threatening to severely punish the putschists. Experts are surprised by the overreaction to measures that the authorities could well have prevented, while the opposition blames the president for trying to divert attention from the country's economic problems.
The Maldives police have launched an investigation into suspicions that the democratic opposition, taking advantage of the state's financial problems, decided to overthrow President Mohamed Muizza. According to the Maldives Republic, a statement from the law enforcement agency said it was ‘investigating an attempted coup d'état’.
The situation in the country began to heat up on 25 August when the state-controlled Bank of Maldives announced it was limiting foreign currency card transactions to $100 a month.
The bank said it was taking the measure at a time when citizens were increasingly paying in foreign currency via cards and there was no adequate inflow of foreign currency into the Bank of Maldives. This, according to the bank, reduces the availability of foreign currency for the country's important economic activities.
The banking restrictions did not become a reason for street protests, but they were hotly discussed in social networks, and the US dollar exchange rate soared on the black market.
According to police, hundreds of bots appeared on social media, urging citizens to take to the streets and overthrow the government. The authorities blame the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party. And some government officials see the bank's actions as opposition intrigue.
President Muizzou sees the bank's decision as an attempt to discredit him personally and has accused a number of executives of the credit institution of loyalty to the previous government. The president called the events that followed the bank's decision ‘a long-planned direct coup attempt’.
The head of state promised to ‘bring down the full force of the Constitution’ on those who tried to raise their hands on power.
Under pressure from the president and after the intervention of the financial regulator, the bank cancelled the restrictions. But the situation is far from being defused, and the presidential administration is now demanding the resignation of Bank of Maldives Governor Karl Stumke, blaming him for the political crisis.
Meanwhile, analysts cited by Maldives Republic point to some inadequacy of the government's response to the events and note that the authorities had enough time to reverse the bank's decision before it was made public. The same analysts point out that most of the bank's board members are appointed by the current authorities, and accusations of disloyalty sound strange. The opposition categorically denies guilt and, in turn, calls the authorities‘ accusations an attempt to divert attention from the Maldives’ economic problems. Meanwhile, the police investigation continues.
