58 MPs were coerced into passing an amendment to the bill on foreign land ownership so as to allow Faafu atoll to be sold off to the Saudi government, said pro-government MP, Mohamed Musthafa said.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Musthafa said a clause was added to the constitution and MPs were threatened into voting in favour of it an hour before. While the parliamentarian had not specified the source of the threats, he did say the recipient MPs belonged to the ruling coalition.

In another tweet, MP Musthafa expressed confidence that ‘someone, someday’ would call out against such downright threats against lawmakers.

He had even criticized parliament speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, describing him as ‘power hungry’, and called on him to take responsibility for the ramifications of his actions.

Musthafa belongs to the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), specifically the faction loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.