Maldives Crisis: News & Discussion

[Ray]

The ousted President was moving Maldives towards modernity..

That is what could not be imbibed by the obscurantist mindset of the people, catalysed with Wahhabism and Wahhabi funds!

 

[Godless-Kafir]

The ousted President was moving Maldives towards modernity..

That is what could not be imbibed by the obscurantist mindset of the people, catalysed with Wahhabism and Wahhabi funds!

Few more inches of sea level rise and Maldives would disappear its funny that they are busy with Arabism when they wont have any land left.

 

[Armand2REP]

India should intervene to overthrow Wahhabis. It can install a Pro-Indian government to start selling them arms and put a base on-island.

 

[Iamanidiot]

India should intervene to overthrow Wahhabis. It can install a Pro-Indian government to start selling them arms and put a base on-island.

The coup has got something to do with India and the airport actually

 

[venkat]

Its part of a diabolical game of encircling India by ISI controlled thugs!!!

 

[The Messiah]

ex president supporters have captured nearly a dozen islands and burnt down police stations.

 

[Godless-Kafir]

India should intervene to overthrow Wahhabis. It can install a Pro-Indian government to start selling them arms and put a base on-island.

That is a sure way to begin anti-india probaganda where there was none. If anything India has learnt the lesson not to send the Military first.

 

[Armand2REP]

It is the Indian Ocean, it belongs to INDIA. It is time to assert dominance over the area when opportunity presents itself. This is that time...

 

[Param]

It is the Indian Ocean, it belongs to INDIA. It is time to assert dominance over the area when opportunity presents itself. This is that time...

What part of India are you from?

 

[Kunal Biswas]

It is the Indian Ocean, it belongs to INDIA. It is time to assert dominance over the area when opportunity presents itself. This is that time...

If Indian Gov refused to act, I see no hope until in form of UN peace keeping force..

 

[The Messiah]

US recognises new government of Maldives

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, who has hunkered down at his modest family home in the capital Male since losing the presidency on Tuesday, has appealed for urgent foreign help.

Read more at: US recognises new government of Maldives

bearers of democracy

 

[pmaitra]

That is a sure way to begin anti-india probaganda where there was none. If anything India has learnt the lesson not to send the Military first.

I second that.

It is the Indian Ocean, it belongs to INDIA. It is time to assert dominance over the area when opportunity presents itself. This is that time...

No Armand2REP, force works in the short term, but breeds a lot of resentment in the long run. It can also turn those pro-India against India. Moreover, Maldives is not sitting on oil, and even if it was, India would not invade it. I think military option should be exercised only as the very last option.

One should investigate whether Pakistan has a hand in it, or perhaps PRC.

US recognises new government of Maldives

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, who has hunkered down at his modest family home in the capital Male since losing the presidency on Tuesday, has appealed for urgent foreign help.

Read more at: US recognises new government of Maldives

bearers of democracy

So the US might finally get a base in Maldives. Interesting. I guess India should go ahead with oil-trade with Iran.

 

[Nirvana]

Indian plan for military 'intervention' in Maldives in place

According to reports, a Defence Crisis Management Group made up of the operational wings of the Indian army, navy and air force has been placed on standby. An amphibious briage under 54 Division will lead the operations if required.A decision to intervene militarily will require the government to take a political call on the unfolding situation.

Indian plan for military 'intervention' in Maldives in place | Firstpost

 

[pmaitra]

Indian plan for military 'intervention' in Maldives in place

According to reports, a Defence Crisis Management Group made up of the operational wings of the Indian army, navy and air force has been placed on standby. An amphibious briage under 54 Division will lead the operations if required.A decision to intervene militarily will require the government to take a political call on the unfolding situation.

Indian plan for military 'intervention' in Maldives in place | Firstpost

If we can call British aid 'a peanut,' we should muster up enough courage to take the political decision to intervene there.

However, Indian intelligence needs to inform the government whether the ousted President is indeed unpopular or has been removed by the army alone. No point supporting a person who does not have the support of the majority of the population.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

No point supporting a person who does not have the support of the majority of the population.

This is important..

 

[agentperry]

string of pearls. congo lazy asses in India and us now one more fool joins the party.

 

[Ray]

10 February 2012 Last updated at 10:51 GMT

Defiant former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has led a street rally in Male, three days after what he says was a coup that forced him to resign.....

There he reiterated that he was no longer calling for his reinstatement as president, but wanted snap elections to resolve the stand-off.

BBC News - Maldives crisis: Defiant ex-leader Nasheed leads rally

 

[Ray]

Unease grows over Maldives power struggle

The dramatic resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed amid claims of a coup has prompted growing concern that the Maldives' young democracy is in danger, reports the BBC's Andrew North in Male.

It seemed like a telling smile. The new president of this country of 1,000 paradise islands walked in for his first news conference looking like everything was going to plan.

But appearances take time to understand - and rumour, suspicion and competing narratives swirl about this tiny island capital amid the sting of tear gas.

Was it a coup or not? And as always, the question, where does the money trail lead?

And rumours travel fast here - you can walk the island in less than half an hour.

But Male is a bubble too, with the Indian Ocean on all sides.
'Unfair' question

Tourists are still arriving at the airport - on another island - before being whisked away to yet another protected isle, with no sign so far of the disturbances reaching there.
Continue reading the main story
"Start Quote

Warrants for the arrest of the former president and his defence minister do not bode well for calm here"

But envoys from the US and the UN are now flying in, too, as concern spreads that the Maldives' young democracy may be sinking like its islands.

"Do I look like someone who'd bring about a coup d'etat?" new President Mohammed Waheed Hassan replied indignantly to a reporter's question. "Huh. I think that's unfair."

It was his former boss, Mohammed Nasheed, who caused the crisis, he said, by "unlawfully" detaining a senior judge.

President Hassan, a former UN official, said he was the one upholding the constitution - and protecting democracy.

This is where it gets even more complicated.

Mr Nasheed's supporters says the judge was arrested because he was stalling an investigation into how the president for 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had amassed his wealth.

And Mr Nasheed - the Maldives first democratically-chosen leader - insists he was pushed from power at gunpoint.

On Tuesday, he had given a slightly different version of events - saying he was stepping down to try to prevent violence.

When he told a large rally of his supporters that he had been forced out, new violence on the streets seemed inevitable.

What really happened on Tuesday will now be a key part of deciding what happens next.

Many suspect the former president of playing some hand in the week's events. He is currently abroad and denies this. But asked by the BBC by phone if he wanted to return to power, he said he was keeping his "options open".

And some accuse the new president of in effect being a puppet.

Diplomats are making appeals for calm on all sides, calling for the rule of law to be respected.

There has been surprise here at how quickly the outside world appeared to accept what had happened.

Neighbouring India - which sent troops to stop the last coup attempt in 1988 - was quick to reach out to the new president.

An initial statement from the UK, the former colonial power, seemed to accept Mohammed Nasheed had simply resigned.

Its first concern is the safety of some 2,500 British tourists here, along with a handful of permanent residents.

But there are now signs of some back-pedalling going on, after the violence that erupted in Male on Wednesday.

Britain's high commissioner in Sri Lanka is already here. US envoy Robert Blake is due here on Saturday, with American diplomats on the ground "fact-gathering" beforehand.

Warrants for the arrest of the former president and his defence minister do not bode well for calm here.

President Hassan later told the BBC he's ordered the arrest warrant to be suspended - as long as his former boss "co-operates", a sign he too is listening to appeals for calm.

Heavy rain helped keep the streets quieter on Thursday. But there are fears Friday prayers could create a new flashpoint.

BBC News - Unease grows over Maldives power struggle

 

[Ray]

Maldives 'will go to the dogs', says ousted leader

[video]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16966668[/video]

Watch the video which starts after the ad.

 

[Ray]

A Backgrounder.

Fall from grace for Maldives' democratic crusader

Just over three years ago, supporters of then President Mohamed Nasheed lined up along the seawall in the capital, Male, waving flags to usher in what they called the "dawn of democracy".

It was the country's first-ever multiparty election, and the 41-year-old former political prisoner had won out against an incumbent who had ruled autocratically for three decades.

But in a dramatic fall from power, Mr Nasheed - known as Anni to his supporters - on Tuesday stepped down after what his party described as a "coup against a constitutionally-elected government".

Galvanised by the opposition, protesters had taken to the streets to demand his resignation and were joined by rebel police officers and several dozen unarmed soldiers.

Mr Nasheed, declaring that he did not want to see any bloodshed, announced he was stepping down.

It was a startling turn of events for a man heralded as the harbinger of change who pledged to complete the archipelago's transition to democracy.

In recent years, Mr Nasheed had also attracted worldwide attention for his campaign for action on climate change, even holding an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight his cause.

But domestically, he appeared to lose his footing as a series of crises shook his government, while elements of the former government grappled to regain power.

Religious protests

Early this year, Mr Nasheed came up against religious groups, who demanded more conservative policies in the Sunni Muslim nation.

Scores of people rallied in the capital after a visit by the UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, who said the Maldives should hold a debate on the flogging of women accused of extra-marital sex.

Ms Pillay's comments were seen by some as an assault on Islam. Opposition parties jumped on the cause, accusing Mr Nasheed - regarded as a liberal - of being un-Islamic.

Meanwhile, Maldivians expressed anger over soaring prices, which they said were a result of economic policies imposed by the government to tackle a huge budget deficit.

It was, however, Mr Nasheed's intervention in the judicial branch which brought his term to an unexpected end.

Last month he asked the army to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, the chief judge of the Criminal Court, in a move condemned by critics as unconstitutional.

The judge had ordered the release of a government critic he said had been illegally detained. Aides to the president said the judge was obstructing allies of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom facing justice.

But opposition parties, the Supreme Court and the Judicial Services Commission said the detention of Judge Mohamed was unlawful and called for his release.

Protests were organised in which demonstrators accused Mr Nasheed of being a dictator. As tensions mounted, the rhetoric became increasingly toxic, with senior opposition figures calling for a mutiny.

On Monday night, a group of police defectors attacked a rallying point used by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in Male.

The following day, soldiers fired teargas at police mutineers and demonstrators at the Maldives National Defence Force headquarters in Republic Square.

The army later said they advised Mr Nasheed to give up power; Mr Nasheed later said he was forced "at gunpoint".

'Volatile situation'

Some regard the unrest as a war between Mr Nasheed and Mr Gayoom's proxies, some of whom have faced allegations of corruption.

Earlier this week, a big fraud case against Mr Gayoom's half-brother, Abdullah Yameen, was forwarded to prosecutors by the presidential commission, an investigative body set up by Mr Nasheed.

Mr Nasheed, who was heavily persecuted under Mr Gayoom, has accused the new President Mohammed Waheed Hassan, formerly vice-president, of being part of a conspiracy with the opposition to oust him. Mr Waheed has denied the claim, saying he only wants to bring stability to the country.

It remains unclear how this crisis will lay the ground for presidential elections expected in 2013.

Judge Mohamed has since been released under the orders of the new president.

Mr Waheed is expected to govern until the polls, but the situation remains volatile.

Events of the last 24 hours have stunned the usually peaceful nation.

BBC News - Fall from grace for Maldives' democratic crusader