Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has pledged that a future People's National Front (PNF) will win the next election and will be elected as next administration and following this win, would investigate the sale of state assets and recover any proceeds from those found responsible.

Speaking at a PNF meeting, Yameen said anyone involved in selling key national assets would face legal action, regardless of their position.

He said the future PNF administration would take steps to recover public funds linked to such transactions.

Yameen also said strategic infrastructure, including the country's main commercial port, should remain under Maldivian ownership.

He argued that if such assets were transferred to foreign entities, responsibility for any compensation claims should rest with those who approved the transactions rather than the state.

The former president criticized previous administrations over decisions involving national assets.

He referred to the agreement signed during former President Mohamed Nasheed's administration that handed the operation of what is now Velana International Airport to India's GMR, as well as maritime boundary issues during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's administration.

He described these as part of a broader pattern of placing national assets at risk.

Yameen also alleged that the current administration has made attempts to sell the country's main commercial port, although no evidence was presented during his remarks.

He described the Maldives' international airport and commercial port as two of the country's most valuable economic assets, saying they should never be used as collateral for debt or transferred to outside parties.

The airport concession agreement with GMR, signed in 2010, was later canceled by the government under former President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik after it declared the contract invalid.

An international arbitration tribunal later ordered the Maldives to pay GMR $271 million in compensation, which was settled during Yameen's administration in 2016.