Maldivian politician apologizes for social media post.
Mariyam Shiuna, a Maldivian politician suspended earlier this year along with two other deputy ministers over social media posts targeting Indian leadership, has apologized for a recent post on her handle.
In a post on the platform, Shiuna said she wanted to clarify her deleted post and offer her “sincerest apologies for any confusion or offence caused.”
She stated the image used in her previous post resembled the Indian national flag unintentionally. Shiuna had targeted the Maldivian opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s election campaign with her post ahead of the April 21 parliamentary polls.
The post showed the opposition party’s logo replaced with the Ashok Chakra emblem from the Indian flag. The suspended deputy minister, who belongs to Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s ruling party, said she would be more careful about verifying shared content in the future.
Stressing valuable India-Maldives ties, Shiuna mentioned the mutual respect shared between the two countries. In January, Shiuna and two other ministers were suspended over comments seen as targeting Indian leadership.
This comes at a time when the Muizzu government faces allegations of drifting towards China. However, the Maldives denies strain in relations with its close neighbour India.