Parliament must approve the use of a region in Maldives for U.S. military purposes: AG

Attorney General Aishath Bisham has said that the decision to allow a region in the Maldives to be utilised by the U.S. for military purposes must be approved by the parliament.

Bisham told Sun Online that former Attorney General Aishath Azima had, on 21 March, advised the Defence Ministry regarding the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) proposed by the U.S.

Bisham said that Azima had highlighted 12 issues related to this agreement.

“The advice provided by Azima is still the same, we haven’t made any changes to it. Several issues related to the Constitution have been highlighted, and there are some areas in which advice must be obtained from other State institutions,” she said.

Bisham said that Defence Ministry had been notified that the procedures mentioned in the advice must be completed prior to signing the agreement proposed by the U.S.

“One thing I would like to note is, as per article 251 of the Constitution, no part of the territory of the Maldives can be used for military purposes without the approval of the majority of the total membership of the parliament. There is no other way in which any region in the Maldives can be used for foreign military purposes,” she said.

The agreement states that a region must be specified and provided for the military purposes of both countries for a defined period.

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has said that the SOFA was proposed by the U.S., and that Maldivian government had not yet made a decision regarding this matter.

“SOFA is an agreement with different countries by the U.S. to carry out their military trainings. It’s not about establishing a base. There’s been no proposal about establishing a base. The government has not yet made a decision regarding SOFA,” Nazim said.