Spring ousts Nasheed
"I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power. I believe that if the government were to remain in power it would require the use of force which would harm many citizens. I resign because I believe that if the government continues to stay in power, it is very likely that we may face foreign influences."
Hordes of foreign media personnel descended on Male when news of the resignation spread worldwide. On Wednesday, Nasheed faced them to claim he was forced to resign at gunpoint -- a charge his successor Waheed Hassen strongly denied. Nasheed's remarks, in the backdrop of fading support from the police and defence forces were made worse by other developments.
The United Nations, India and Sri Lanka were among the countries that have quickly recognised President Waheed Hassan's government. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson said, "The SecretaryGeneral has learned of the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and the appointment of former Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan as the new President of the country.
"The Secretary-general expresses his strong hope that this handover of power, which has been announced as a constitutional step to avoid further violence and instability, will lead to the peaceful resolution of the political crisis that has polarized the country in recent months. He calls on all Maldivians to refrain from violence and engage constructively in addressing the challenges their country is facing and to protect and build upon the important gains the Maldives has made in recent years in establishing democracy and rule of law….."
Ban's Assistant Secretary-general, Oscar Fernando Taranco, who was earlier assigned to travel to the Maldives to resolve the deadlock between Nasheed's government and the opposition arrived there on Thursday. On Friday, he held talks with President Waheed Hassen.
On Wednesday, a day after he assumed office, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received a telephone call from President Waheed Hassen. An official spokesperson said in New Delhi, "The President of Maldives Dr. Mohammed Waheed spoke to Prime Minister today after taking office. In a brief telephone call, he reaffirmed the special and close ties that the Maldives has with India and said that he was committed to upholding the Constitution of that country and the rule of law. The Prime Minister conveyed his best wishes to the President and said that India as always stood ready to provide any support or assistance that the people of the Maldives might require. The President said that he looked forward to an early opportunity of meeting the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to such a meeting which would give both sides an opportunity to discuss the further strengthening of bilateral co-operation. The Prime Minister conveyed his good wishes to the people of the Maldives for peace, prosperity and stability in the country."
On the same day, Singh also sent a congratulatory letter to the Maldivian President.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement: "The Government of Sri Lanka has noted the resignation of the President of the Maldives Mr. Mohamed Nasheed and the swearing in of its Vice-president, Dr. Mohamed Waheed as the President of the Maldives. The Government of Sri Lanka is of the view that these developments are internal matters of the Maldives and hopes that all issues pertaining to this transition be resolved in a peaceful manner.
"As the closest neighbour, Sri Lanka enjoys a cordial relationship with the government and people of the Maldives, and wishes to assure its fullest support and co-operation to the Government of the Maldives in its efforts to bring peace and stability to the country and prosperity to the Maldivian people."
In a widely televised news conference, the new President Waheed Hassen assured his people that restoring normalcy and rule of law to the Maldives were his highest priorities. He said he had committed himself to establishing a National Unity Government, with representatives of all of the political parties, including the MDP, the party of former president Nasheed.
As Vice President, Dr. Waheed swore the same oath as the president to protect the constitution. He said he felt duty bound to speak up against the actions the President had taken to order the defence forces to take a senior judge into custody and to detain him without formal charge or access to legal counsel. For this reason, he said, all of the political parties in the country, representing about 80% of the electorate, gave their full support to him.
Nasheed now faces a huge dilemma. Trade circles in Male have accused him of unfair treatment to local citizens. They complain that stalls held by them at the Male International Airport have been given to a foreign company whilst they have been edged out of business. The Maldivian Courts recently rejected a move by Nasheed's government to impose a tax of US $ 35 on every passenger using the Male International Airport. The Courts held that the government should heed the Airport Regulations and only impose the stipulated $ 17 per passenger. The proposal drew angry protests from airlines that were touching down in Male.
Opposition parties also accused Nasheed of giving on lease over 80 islands in the archipelago of some 1180 to his friends and relatives for tourism development. They also charged that he was working out plans to move out civilians in some inhabited islands and hand them over to tourism operators of his choice. Those civilians were to be located in other inhabited islands. Another charge levelled by the opposition is that there were serious discrepancies in budgetary allocations to ministries. Audits conducted so far have revealed large scale irregularities. They alleged these have happened because Nasheed had nominated his own cronies and relatives to boards that undertook large development projects. These and other charges are to become subjects for a Presidential Commission of Inquiry.
"As President, he (Nasheed) stifled the media. He sealed some media institutions. He put pressure on others if they either published/aired 'unfavourable' reports or threatened and intimidated them," Ahmed Zahir, President of the Maldivian Journalists Association (MJA) told the Sunday Times. The MJA is affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). He said that a five-member board to run the Maldivian National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), the national broadcaster, had to be named by Parliament. This was with the concurrence of the Media Council and the Broadcasting Commission. "He bypassed all of them and named his own cronies. The national TV station was his mouthpiece. Morning, noon and night, they carried out his propaganda," said Zahir. He added "this is how champions of human rights and democracy behaved when they come to power."
There are clear signs that the winds of Arab Spring, that originated in Tunisia and spread to many countries including Egypt Libya, and now Syria are spreading far out. It had even blown to the Indian Ocean. The rapid growth of social media and satellite television had brought both to the drawing rooms and living rooms of the citizens of the Maldives the "revolutions" live and delivered a strong message. The police action reflects a leaf from this message as do the public protests in Artificial Beach leading to the overthrow of Nasheed's repressive regime. Neither he nor did those close to him realise the end would come that soon and with such gusto. Even the security apparatus he built turned against him.