Former Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid has said President Abdulla Yameen's administration will do "anything" to defend grip on power.

Speaking on RaajjeTV's Fala Surukhee programme on Tuesday night, Shahid responded to the President's accusations against the European Union after he claimed that the organization, despite multiple discussions to resolve issues in Maldives, has been taking the opposition's side and ignoring the governments remarks.

Noting that the international community is not just listening to what is being said, Shahid said that "they can see what is going on in the country".

While President Yameen on Tuesday revealed that the EU is expected to take action against Maldives this month, Shahid said the reason for this "is because it is clear that Yameen's administration will do anything to hold on to power".

He said that the Maldivian people will also be affected "even if EU were to only take action against senior government officials" and added that the organization has on multiple occasions warned to take action against Maldives officials "if situation is not resolved".

Furthermore, likening the President to Zimbabwe's ousted leader Robert Mugabe, Shahid highlighted that Mugabe was not able to hold on to power much longer following sanctions. He also said that like Mugabe, President Yameen "wants to travel with a motorcade despite the state of the people".

He also responded to allegations that EU is to take action against Maldives "because it is a Muslim country", emphasizing that this is the first time that the organization has warned of action despite the fact that Maldives has been a Muslim country all this time.