Accusing President Abdulla Yameen and MPs of treachery and destroying the constitutional order, impeached vice president Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed said he had received threats to his life when he refused to resign.
“Every move in this campaign was organised. Every act was planned at driving a wedge between myself and the people who elected me. My reputation was threatened and finally I started receiving threats to my life. A message was sent to my family saying the president wanted me to resign. Otherwise, they were told, my family members and I could be framed as others have been,” he said, in an 18-page statement shared with the media ahead of the successful impeachment.
Jameel is currently in London. He left abruptly in late June within a day of the People’s Majlis approving a constitutional amendment that will allow President Yameen to replace him with the tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb.
Jameel’s lawyer was barred from responding to charges on his behalf before today’s vote. He is accused of incompetence and disloyalty, and was removed with overwhelming support from the opposition.
In his statement, Jameel accused MPs of ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) of betrayal. Reminding them of his efforts to elect them, he said they have now succumbed to lucrative gifts of islands and plots of land, offered illegally from the state coffers.
Soon after the ex vice president’s family members received warning messages, Adeeb sent a message with the words “Let’s talk.” The meaning was very clear, Jameel said. Intelligence reports can be fabricated and evidence can be fabricated, he said, referring to the jailing of ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim on weapons smuggling charges. Nazim maintains he was framed by rogue police officers on Adeeb’s orders.
Jameel also accused President Yameen of undermining democracy.
“The president promised to strengthen democracy. But his actions indicate otherwise, the state of the independent institutions and the public broadcaster indicate otherwise. What has happened to dissidents and their properties is a joke. Licenses can be withheld all of a sudden, bank accounts frozen and agreements can be annulled. But they can be reinstated as quickly through opaque political negotiations.
“This is testament to the state of the rule of law in the Maldives. It is as if [President Yameen] has forgotten how weak he was when he assumed the presidency, and as if he has forgotten the great responsibility of his powers. It is as if the president now represents those who dare to act as they want, to accuse others without any basis and violate rights without any fear,” he said.
Aspiring politicians can now be jailed and their voices silenced on false accusations, he said. The opposition, instead of upholding the rule of law, is more interested in government’s promises of commuting sentences, withdrawing charges and ceasing investigations, he alleged.
All 20 MPs of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) voted to impeach Jameel today. Negotiations are ongoing between the MDP and the government. The party has suggested jailed opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed will be freed soon. Since negotiations began, the government also removed a freeze on opposition Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim’s businesses.
Clemency for two ex defence ministers, and the leader of the religious conservative Adhaalath Party are also on the table.
Champions of individual rights have now sacrificed the constitution and democratic principles for personal gain, Jameel said.
Reminding MPs of accountability in the afterlife with Quranic verses, Jameel said that MPs have no right to abrogate the electoral will of the people on baseless allegations of incompetence and disloyalty.
The former vice president said he was sidelined and isolated, while any attempt at carrying out the duties of his office was seen as a move to create an independent power base. He was forced to stop calling on the public and the sick at the hospitals.
Every move was viewed with suspicion and reported to the president. Ultimately, it was seen as dangerous for others to keep up relations with him. Anyone who spoke up on his behalf was sidelined too, Jameel alleged. Finally, even the cutlery at the vice presidential palace was taken away, he said.
“The treatment I received was worse than that any other vice president has received. The staff of the president’s office will bear witness,” he said.
“Since I was elected the vice president of the Maldives, it is as if I have been on the blade of a sharp sword. If I attempted to promote the government, it was deemed an illegal activity. My silence is now seen as even worse,” he said.
Correction: This article previously stated the vice president had said his family had received messages saying they will be tried and sentenced as others have been. The correct translation would be “framed as others have been.” Minivan News apologizes for the error in translation.
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Yeah, my cat was under threat too. This guy deserves all that he gets - a real douche bag. Thought it was clever to bad mouth Gayyoom and then join his party just for the sake of fulfilling his hunger for power. Backstabber gets backstabbed in the end!
Enjoy the free fall now. There won't be many people crying for Jameel.
Shame on MDP & JP lawmakers, shame on all MDP & JP corrupted greedy activists who played a role in recent deals with the government , and shame on former president Nasheed who has sold ordinary people for the sake of his own personal and political agenda. I have been an MDP hardcore supporter since day one and I have no regrets to leave this party and its narrow minded agenda that has forgotten what we people sacrificed for the sake of a better Maldives. My apologies to Reeko Moosa (not for his proved corruption) and the supporters of MDP who quit the party for when they realized the dirty game that was unfolding. I have watched Raajje literally everyday for years and honestly am sick with images and sounds of MDP/JP MPs rhetorics, filth and abuses towards PPM, Gayoom, Yameem, Adheeb and the rest.
As an honest MDP party member since day one, as a friend of most MDP/JP followers, today I say sorry and goodbye to a party that lost its focus and its objectives and commitment to ordinary people who make 95% of the members. I have not been bought as I mean nothing to anyone, I am not joining PPM or any other party, and I have no grudge against the ruling president or his right-hand followers. I am simply angry because whatever political deals which have been made, are designed to benefit a few well-off, educated, greedy and corrupted bunch of people who have SOLD democracy and the hope of ordinary people to look forward to a better life.
Mr. Nasheed, sooner or later you will be pardoned, get your freedom, travel round the world for international and media exposure (as your wife has been doing), maybe get an award for fighting for democracy. When you fought Mr. Gayoom or dictatorship as we knew then, we were with you, the world was with you, and you were called Mandela of Maldives. MANDELA is the most respected name in democracy anywhere in the world, but you forgot something very important that this great leader never forgot in 27 years in jail, and the few more that he lived as a free man. Shame shame shame.
Mr. Nasheed, you have forgotten a few maybe irrelevant aspects of your recent political life. Your freedom, the breath you inhale, the energy for you to speak and the guts for those close to you to abuse others derived from:
a) That pregnant young girl who sacrificed her pregnancy, faced police brutality, chocked out of pepper spray,and languished in jail……FOR WHAT or WHO?
b) That old woman your moms age who was roughed up and thrown behind a police van with no respect, ended up in a concrete cell….FOR WHAT of WHO?
c) The teenagers (girls and boys) murdered, tortured, deprived dignity, lost their careers, jobs and black listed….FOR WHAT or WHO?
d) Housewives who left responsibilities to tend to their children, but stay on streets day and night. Some have been divorced or abandoned by family members….FOR WHAT or WHO?
e) The blind, the deaf, the crippled. Don't forget the guy who raised MDP flags in every MDP gathering, the pick up drivers whose vehicles were confiscated, the loud speaker men who frequently got arrested and lost their incomes….FOR WHAT or WHO?
f) The small kids as little as 3 year olds under heat making birthday cards, cards asking for your release as your family and close friends took the opportunity for media exposure…FOR WHAT or WHO?
g) Your own blood that never missed any MDP meeting, encouraged the public to fight not for you, but for the future of the youth, the future of Maldives….FOR WHAT of WHO?
Ironically, your commanders or the so called hard-core MDP supporters in UK, Colombo, Malayasia, Singapore, India, Australia and in Male, kept voicing their concerns about you, but while they enjoyed a good life, living lavishly in secure environments where police or MNDF could not reach them, their kids going to international schools, having butter and jam for breakfast BUT NEVER EVER were on the ground to face the brutal wrath from authorities…..it was the poor fisherman, the unfortunate poor islanders, the vegetable venders, the toothless old and people who were struggling to make ends meet WHO FOUGHT FOR YOU TO HAVE THAT SMILE AND THE COURAGE TO FIGHT!!
I am sad, I am hurt, I am devastated. (I) means we simple people who made MDP what is it, not those wearing rolex watches, driving posh cars, earning six figure salaries and taking bribes on the side, or those whose families live abroad in sheer happiness and no worries.
Castro, even if communist, fought for ordinary people.
Mugabe as crazy as we all know gave simple Afrcians a voice to fight and they fought apartheid
Mandela sacrificed EVERYTHING for the ordinary people
Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma gave up her husband and kids for the sake of ordinary people.
WHAT HAVE YOU? You have or will earn your freedom at the cost of poor Maldivians who now have no voice but dispair and probably just faith to make it through the coming rough seas….WHAT IS IN FOR THEM???
Whether its Gayoom, Ymeem, Adheeb or Riyaz who rules Maldives, we don't care. We want peace, we want prosperity, and we want a future for our children. You have let us down and only God will make the judgement.
So, where is the evidence that shows "threats" to his life? He's presumably trying to use this as a tactic to get asylum in the UK.
Anyway, why is he in the UK in the first place? We all remember how he screamed his head off about President Nasheed colluding with the UK to eradicate Islam from the Maldives and spread Christianity! So, why did he flee to the Christian UK? Why didn't he go to seek shelter in Saudi Arabia with his "brothers"?
Well, we know the answer, don't we? This guy has "hypocrite" written all over his face. Hope the UK government promptly packs him on a plane, whenever his current visa runs out.