Nasheed pledges to repeal foreign freehold amendment

Former president Mohamed Nasheed has pledged to repeal a controversial constitutional amendment to allow foreign freeholds.

Parliament amended the constitution in 2015, with opposition party backing, to authorise foreign ownership of land or freeholds despite calls for a public referendum.

Nasheed, who is campaigning for this year’s election as Jazeera Raees or ‘Island President’, vowed to repeal the amendment during a Skype video call with young people.

Nasheed said “we will reverse it” when asked about foreign freeholds but said he believed “foreigners who wish to buy a second home must be facilitated with renting land for a long period of time without getting ownership of that property.”

He also spoke about the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge and said the outcome of the project might lead to “giving up our land.”

“When we cannot pay back the loan, they will come back and demand us to hand over the bridge operation. To give them a share of the bridge. So when we give a share of the bridge, that is giving up our land,” he was quoted as saying by local media.

The US$200 million bridge, which links the capital to Hulhulé, is expected to be completed in July.