Selling out the nation or serving the people depending on who holds power

A lease of 25 years on an airport once counted as pure betrayal of the country, yet handing over Ras Malé for 99 years is suddenly paraded around as an act of noble public service.

Hardly anyone has forgotten the massive political and legal chaos sparked across Maldivian history whenever the Latin concept of being invalid right from the start is brought up. That legal phrase remains permanently tied to the 2010 contract struck with India’s GMR Group and the fierce national instability that came crashing down in its wake. Now, that identical dispute has crawled back to the surface, dressed up in an entirely different package.

Former President Nasheed pictured with GMR Company officials | Social Media

Original sin of 25 Years

Going back to the start, the responsibility of expanding and running the primary gateway of the country, Velana International Airport (VIA), was transferred to GMR under a 25-year agreement on 28 June 2010, throughout the rule of former President Mohamed Nasheed. At the ceremonial cornerstone placement for that venture, which had been awarded through a global bidding process backed by the World Bank, the president argued that the airfield serves as the initial contact zone where arriving vacationers encounter the sophistication and charm of the country, insisting the undertaking was critical to double the economic output of the nation.

However, the political opposition back then rallied heavily against the move, putting tremendous strain on the administration. After calculated political skirmishes and fierce street protests claiming a vital sovereign holding was being offloaded to an outside player, the ruling regime collapsed, and the incoming leadership resolved to tear up the deal. Following formal counsel from the Cabinet ministers, the office of the chief state legal advisor, and external legal specialists from the United Kingdom alongside Singapore, the state threw out the contract as invalid from the start. That declaration of absolute nullity erased the agreement and plunged the country into lengthy overseas arbitration.

During those days, leasing the airfield for a quarter of a century was blasted as a monumental crime, equated directly with auctioning off the homeland.

Protest against the agreement with GMR | Social Media

A century-long giveaway in disguise

Today’s political reality paints a completely opposite picture.

The current ruling leadership has committed to a ninety-nine-year lease arrangement with the prominent Abu Dhabi building firm Eagle Hills to execute an immense 20-billion-dollar development at Ras Malé. Even as this maneuver triggers intense public skepticism and unleashes endless questions, the state scrambles to defend itself by claiming that local land is not being sold under any arrangement.

Appearing on the state broadcaster PSM during the current affairs show Raajje Miadhu, Finance Minister Zareer argued that this transaction represents an ordinary lease conducted strictly beneath the current statutes of the country, entirely comparable to 99-year rights routinely granted for holiday islands valued at USD 200 million to USD 300 million. He went on to reassure the public that not even a single square foot of domestic territory would be handed over in outright sales to overseas entities.

Agreement signing between Eagle Hills and the government of Maldives | Housing Ministry

Convenient evolution of political principles

This blatant contradiction forces an uncomfortable reality to light. If putting an airfield under a 25-year lease was condemned as an existential hazard to national security that required voiding a deal and nearly toppling a government, how does surrendering a giant expanse like Ras Malé to a foreign corporate interest for nearly an entire century escape criticism today? Does a move that was previously branded as utterly unacceptable suddenly transform into something legitimate simply because a different set of figures sits at the helm of power?

Having fed citizens empty pledges that not even a single speck of sand would ever be relinquished to foreign entities, the current ruling choice to surrender Ras Malé to an overseas enterprise for 99 years leaves one wondering what genuine distinction actually separates the old GMR arrangement from this Ras Malé venture.

Secrecy and the threat of future reckoning

Meanwhile, the regime tightly conceals the most vital facts surrounding the Ras Malé undertaking, refusing to disclose land lease charges, cash payment schedules, formal state pledges and backing systems, or concrete construction milestone cutoff dates. Analysts across the economic and financial landscape view this wall of opacity with profound alarm, noting that the genuine character of an operation this vast will remain hidden until a completely independent inquiry is held.

While the old GMR crisis was exploited as an attack tool to destabilize the state, the classified bargains struck by President Dr. Muizzu’s leadership grant citizens zero real information. A substantial portion of the population views these century-long land transfers as a massive betrayal, particularly since this ruling group seized authority by loudly promising to shield the motherland, safeguard its faith, and defend its independence.

Warning the current leadership that its grip on office will not endure forever, market observers and political analysts stress that future rulers will have an obligation to dissect these agreements line by line and stage unsparing probes. They make it clear that if any clues point toward corrupt deals, illicit kickbacks, legal violations, or maneuvers that chipped away at the freedom and autonomy of the Maldives, the most severe penalties under the law must fall upon every individual involved.

The underlying mystery remains unresolved. How could a 25-year airport management lease be condemned as treacherous betrayal of the nation, while a cloaked, century-long land transfer gets marketed as a patriotic gift to the people?

When laying both episodes side by side, citizens have every reason to suspect that the patriotic fury shouted in the past was never about protecting the nation but was simply a convenient political battering ram.