Dr Waheed has often reiterated that no matter what the findings are of a formal enquiry into the events that led to Mohamed Nasheedâs resignation, his own legitimacy as President of the Maldives remains beyond question.
He bases this claim to legitimacy on the constitution. How much substance does the claim have?
Article 121 of the constitution states the President can quit by submitting his resignation written âunder his own handâ to the Speaker of the Majlis. The office of the President becomes vacant as soon as the Speaker receives the resignation letter.
Article 112 (d), meanwhile, states that if the office of the President becomes vacant âfor any reasonâ, the Vice President shall succeed to the office of the President.
Nasheed wrote his resignation letter, did he not? Waheed was sworn in as president after the Speaker received the letter, was he not? This means he is the legitimate president, does it not?
Technically, yes. And only if we assume, like Waheed does, that the constitution does not give a damn about whether or not the hand that wrote the presidentâs resignation letter was forced.
Such narrow constructions of the constitution, although incompatible with the ethos of a new democracy committed to its consolidation, are popular weapons for instating the legitimacy of this new regime.
It has, for example, continuously invoked Article 110 as a reason why elections cannot be held earlier than July-September 2013 without first enacting a constitutional amendment.
Article 110 states that elections for the office of President must be held within 120 days to 30 days before the end of a given five year term. It assumes things are going according to plan and, to ensure the smooth transition of power, it provides a timeframe within which the handover of power can take place democratically, through the ballot box.
The new regime has taken this clause of the constitution to mean that it forbids elections until 120 days before the expiry of a natural five-year term, no matter what.
If this were so, why does Article 125(c) of the Constitution foresee circumstances âwhere fresh elections have to be held for any reason during the currency of an ongoing presidential termâ?
Where then is the legal basis for the argument being made by Waheed and the current regime that holding early elections will require a constitutional amendment?
Another question about Waheed and the constitution is: what type of president is he? Is he a caretaker president, or is he president proper?
Article 114 of the constitution says that an incoming president can assume office once he takes his oath before the Chief Justice, âat a sitting of the Peopleâs Majlisâ.
The Chief Justice administered the oath of office for Waheedâs presidency. And Speaker Abdulla Shajid was present. But it was not done âat a sitting of the Peopleâs Majlisâ.
According to the constitution this is a type of oath administered not to an incoming president proper, but to âany person temporarily discharging the duties of the office of the Presidentâ (Article 126).
Furthermore, the only circumstance in which the constitution envisages the need for such a caretaker is if the offices of both the President and the Vice President become vacant at the same time (Article 125(a)).
By overseeing a caretaker oath for Waheed, did the Speaker of the Majlis de facto deem the offices of both the president and the vice president vacant on 7 February? If not, why was Waheed not sworn in before the Majlis?
Most importantly, if the constitution is to be upheld, such a caretaker figure can only remain as the countryâs leader for a maximum period of 60 days.
Elections must be held within that period for both President and Vice President.
So why are fresh elections not being held before 7 April? And again, why is it being said that the constitution cannot accommodate early elections without an amendment?
And, if Waheed took office as a âperson temporarily discharging the duties of the office of the Presidentâ (Article 126), what business does he have purging the government of high-ranking MDP members, installing a brand new cabinet, and modifying or reversing most major policies pursued by the legitimate government he was supposed to be taking care of?
If President Nasheed resigned voluntarily and Waheed acceded to the position constitutionally, then Waheedâs first trip to the Majlis should not, and cannot, be to address it as President.
Without the Majlis first witnessing him taking the oath, it has no business accepting him as President.
One final question on Waheed and the constitution: if Waheed were such a stickler for it, and were he such a committed democrat, why is he turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the thousands of people demanding âelections nowâ?
Article 125 of the constitution provides him with the perfect opportunity to give people what they want. All he has to do is resign for there to be an election within 60 days.
Can Waheed take a hit for the greater good? Or is his commitment to democracy as much of a chimera as the ninety-percent support he claims to have?
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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First get constitutional with Nasheed and his cronies such as Mariya and Rekko Moosa!! Waheed is not my hero! But Nasheed did more damage to this country's dreams and MDP!! So reform MDP without writing propaganda!!
I don't care whether there is an election or not. These acts of violence by MDP must be stopped. They are using thugs and gangs to send the message of "horror" to the public! Not democracy!
Democracy, freedom and justice are killed by the frmer dictatorship loyaliss and supporters by staging a coup!There is no crime as henious as this to a nation!
Azra, you should learn the constitution a bit better if you come to these places and try to debate.
Yes there is much to investigate about the resignation of Anni.
As per the question of the legality of Waheed's swearing in as the President, we all know(I have been a member of MDP) long before most of you that we do not have much to back our arguments.
Sure Waheed may have been upto nefarious activities but then it is up to MDP leadership to prove that he was involved in anything. If MDP says they are offering democracy, it is the democratic way that everyone is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Just because someone goes against the wishes of MDP, he or she does not become guilty or corrupt.
As for your comments about the taking of the oath of the President, it is the taking of the oath of the President and not the Vice President succeeding him as President that has to be done in front of the Majlis.
As for him firing the MDP Ministers and others I agree that it was in extremely bad spirit and he should not have done it the moment he took over. However,he is not a temporary President.
The same scenario was played in the USA with the resignation of Richard Nixon. Gerald Ford took over the Presidency though he was never voted in. Spiro Agnew was the elected Vice President and he resigned and President Nixon appointed Ford as the V. President.
The Americans did not go on the streets screaming where is our votes? In fact it is rather stupid for people to shout where is our votes when in fact the same people who voted for Anni as President also voted for Waheed as the Vice President. So when Anni resigned it is the constitutional right that the Vice President becomes President.
People who scream about this votes are either ignorant or blatant liars.
Yes lets question the validity of Anni's resignation by all means but all this shouting about an election means that MDP knows they have no leg to stand on when it comes to the resignation.
For your information this is not the first time a VP has taken over due to the resignation of a President.
Richard Nixon was also forced to resign and his VP, Ford took over.
Gerald Ford did not oversee an interim Government. He was the President till the regular elections on 1976.
We are just infants in the World of Democracy. It would be wise for us to look at well established democracies in the World before we try to holler Wolf.
MDP should realise that by being so power hungry they are destroying this country of Maldives. Already the economy is down by 15% because of this violence by MDP. It seems that Anni's rational is that if I cannot have power then I will destroy Maldives.
It is the almighty Allah who gives and takes. Allah took it from Gayoom and gave it to Anni and Allah took it from Anni and gave it to Waheed. People should not destroy the future of Maldives for just power and money.
@Reform MDP NOW
Utter nonsense. The country is reverting back to a dictatorship behind an illegal puppet president, more and more each day. And there's you blabbering drivel about the same 3 people you twits always bang on about. Anni, Mariya and Reeko. So tell us all the unconstitutional items carried out by these 3. We're waiting with great anticipation. And please refer to the articles in the constitution that you are referring to. So Anni legally taking over the government from a 30 year dictatorship in free and fair elections, being the first democratically elected president in the country, cutting the deficit, developing the country, pushing for decentralisation, battling with climate change on the world stage and much much more all equates in your book to doing damage? And you think this is propaganda? Leave these forums for the grown-ups oh little one.
@Mald
You should broaden your mind and stop believing the propaganda you see on Dhi TV et al. The fact that they have people like these PPM ex-footballers like Mahfool on these channels all day every day, as they send SMSs while the interviewer is trying to put nonsense questions to them, should be enough to at least make you see sense. This was a peaceful protest by thousands of MDP supporters. To disperse the crowd the baghee police used pepper spray, rubber bullets and batons. Why? Because of a building set fire by one of the gangs associated with the regime? Or was it because of the few panes of glass that were broken in the main coup sponsor's VTV studios? Stop being Mahfooled. Get with the program. And start saying your goodbyes to the little freedoms you had.
TRUTH.... HONESTY....JUSTICE...When people don't know its meaning....they blindly justify...no wonder...Fair is Fowl and Fowl is Fair now.!!
There is definitely matter to reflect upon here. Thanks Azra Naseem for this enlightening piece into the Maldivian constitution.
Why make things complicated? Why all that talk? When a vice president steps in due to the resignation of a democratically elected president...he does what is his duty. Momentarily. He does not dismiss and disgrace whoever worked closely with the president and offers all the high posts to representatives of the old regime. Unless the democratically elected president is ousted by a coup. Was this a coup? Are the five fingers I see in front of my face maybe my hand?? Must set up a commitee and investigate!!!
Interesting article once again Azra and thanks for the insight into the constitution.
Thank you Azra Naseem spot on as usual.
Early elections is entirely upto Waheed. No constitutional ammendement is required, it can be held in 60 days when he resigns.
I believe the Raees of Majlis and Chief Justice need to confirm if Waheed is a caretaker President or President proper!
"if Waheed were such a stickler for it, and were he such a committed democrat, why is he turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the thousands of people demanding âelections nowâ?"
Because that "thousands" do not reflect the Maldivian population.
It is an insignificant fraction of the total population.
Maldives is not MDP.
MDP is at most 25 percent of the voting population of the Maldives.
Wake up, Azra.
Do yor homework if you are writing about us.
"Early elections is entirely upto Waheed. No constitutional ammendement is required, it can be held in 60 days when he resigns."
Tell me one good reason why Waheed should resign.
Anni made a mistake by resigning.
Why should Waheed make the same mistake?
This article is pure bunk.
MDP is going down the drain faster than i imagined. I thought they would be smarter than this.. this paateys ruining MDP in the name of democracy. I love MDP wholeheartedly but i am begining to have doubts now. The mdp i knew was not about these hooligans and vandals breaking and destroying things. The mdp i remember was cool, rational and diplomatic. somewhere somehow they have lost track now. đ
azra naseem is a very apolitical person. She is so unbiased. she is so truthful in everything she is telling here.
Azra is so misinformed. Back to school. suggest law school.
@jamee
Richard Nixon resigned facing almost certain impeachment from Parliament.
If American military and police forced him out, then your analogy would have been accurate.
Concern for the economy and the need for unity, compromise, consensus, fraternity, the constitution and what not should not be on the one way street expected just of the MDP.
Should have thought about the Constitution before orchestrating a coup.
Pull out the pin and blame the grenade for the explosion.
Mariya, Rekko Moosa, Ibrahim Husaain Zaki are the ROOT CAUSE of MDP government fall!! ITS THE TRUTH NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY!! AND PEOPLE WITH SENSE KNOWS THIS!!
The constitution is the ultimate source of authority and law of the state.Nasheed placed himslef above the constitution(Ask zuhair aka juha what "chartun beyru" means) and the constitution hit back at Nasheed with a vengeance!giving him no where to run for support.
Waheed is much more clever, as long as he remains in the shadow of the constitution he will be safe what ever people call him.That's the difference between a day dreamer and a man of logic.You need to respect and know the law to bend the law safely!
INDIA DID THE UNDERGROUND WORK IN THE COUP; UNDER DIRECT GUIDANCE FROM HILARY CLINTON ie THE US. NOW, MALDIVIANS HAVE A PUPPET IN GOVERNMENT WHO BOWES BACKWARD TO US! US IS TARGETING SRI LANKA. UNITED STAES-- BE WARNED! THE NEXT WORLD WAR IS GOING TO START FROM ASIA!
its tragic when one can figure out exactly how biased an article is only by seeing the authors name
Peasant, if it is a military coup, prove it. Put your money where your mouth is.Do you know that some coups are legal. There are many kinds of coups including constitutional coups. Only a military coup d'etat is not legal.
As for thinking about the constitution, who was it who went outside it? Wasn't in Nasheed who went outside the constitution and put a lock on the Supreme Court, arrested two opposition MPs against the Courts orders, and got the military to arrest a judge against all court orders. I joined MDP among the earliest people but this kind of anarchy is not what joined MDP for.It is for democracy.
Nasheed will destroy this country and mark my words Maldivians would come to regret the day they elevated him to equal the almighty Allah. It is amazing that how people believe him yet knowing he lies, drinks and smoke dope.
@ Tell why on Mon,
Waheed should resign because the people who made him Vice President (MDP) are asking him to do so!
786! Peace!
THIS IS RELEVANT TO THIS COMMENT!
We may not agree with all what Mr, Alhan Fahmy has to say, as reported in Haveeruâs story âFebruary 7 is the day all political leaders failed: Alhanâon the 19th.
However itâs heartening to note that he is raising the possibility of INTROSPECTION & REFORM of the MDP. His proclamation that he reserves the right to criticize the MDP leadership if in his judgement that leadership takes a route contrary to the interests of the Maldivian nation is a laudable one.
Given the circumstances, his observation that he would seek for the MDP to work within and outside the parliament within the framework of the law to achieve their goals is a praiseworthy one. One cannot help but note that Mr Alhan Fahmy is showing a maturity that the country sorely needs and other young leaders in the MDP should act more to pursue the interests of the nation rather than interests of a few top men their party. Mr Fahmy is worthy of the support of MDP members in this stated goal,
Our country needs a strong MDP committed to diversity of thought and a party stringently working to uphold and live the rule of law. The party should reform. Expunge the âGOONâ elements from its midst calling for action that leads the country to confrontation. This country has institutions in place that has to be given a chance to work. If there is a divergence of opinion as has occurred with respect to President Nasheedâs resignation or the calling for a new election then the matter has to be brought before the courts for arbitration.
Obviously the courts would rule in favour or against the action. Once the legal course open in the constitution is exhausted to the parties, then the decision of the courts has got to be accepted. The losers might still feel aggrieved. Thatâs their right. But they have to bow down to the law of the land and constitution. Rule of law has to be upheld.
Thatâs what we saw in the 2000 Presidential election in USA, where Bush was proclaimed winner. Gore having won the popular vote still lost the presidency losing marginally the electoral votes. The counting in Florida was hotly contested. One court decided, the other overturned & finally ruled in favour of Gore by the Florida supreme court . Finally the Federal Supreme Court ruled against the previous state Supreme Court ruling. It wasnât a unanimous decision. Everybody bowed to the Supreme Cout ruling. Gore did not say that the Federal Supreme Court was picked by Bush & call his marginally more than 50% popular voter to take to the streets and cause violence.
DO NOT PICK AND CHOOSE FROM THE PLATE OF DEMOCRACY. This nation has to sooner or later start to live the rule of law. THE COURTS HAVE TO BE THE FINAL ARBITOR! Itâs our duty to collectively work to make the courts work. The road does not and CANNOT START BY VIOLENCE.
This nation has bright, young and motivated men and women who should make use of the wealth of source materials available to them to make the executive, the legislature and the judiciary function in all transparency upholding the law. A solemn role is reserved for the PRESS that makes it mandatory on itself to report the facts in the same spirit of transparency and with the aim of acting impartially. An even more solemn role lies with Ulama Kareem of this nation â To show the way, ACCORDING TO THE BOOK! As President Nasheed dreamed let this nation be a beacon unto others!
What ever it is touchrment is back
@ reform MDP
Will you stop boring us with the same scratched record. We don't care what your opinion of Reeko etc is. You have invalidated yourself by over playing this.
Common sense and decent people have been blocked by a bad constitution where the old regime hide. Enough is enough, let the people decide. There was a coup, you know it and so do we!
Well done Azra!
@jameel
Your colleagues in power are pure criminals.
@ aareyy
đ think about what you have just said. You don't have to read what somebody has written. You already know, from her name, she is biased.
Look up 'prejudice' in the dictionary.
Now think about what you said again.
@ reform MDP
So fed up of reading the same comments form you.
Once and for all can you let us know exactly how and why Reeko Moosa and Mariya are considered thugs, cronies, corrupt, etc ??? it will be interesting to read your answer.
The point here is not Reeko moosa or Mariya or even Mohamed Nasheed. The point here is that theres injustice int he way the people have been denied a chance to chose their leader. True Dr.Waheed was decided by the people. But the people voted for him to be the deputy to the president. and when the president is not there, there cannot be a deputy! For a minute, lets say it was not a coup and the vice president steps in, according to the consitution. In such case, he is to carry forward till full term the manifesto of the voted leader and with the same cabinet. Removing the cabinet and bringing about a change to the manifesto that the people voted for cannot be accepted on any account. And this is what the people of Maldives is fighting about.
@Aareyy: U better double-check on the definition of "biased"
Good job Ms. Naseem. Thank you!!
Z. actually my colleagues are the people rioting and creating violence in Male now. It is people that I dislike that are in the government now.
But as a Maldivian I do not want to destroy Maldives so that MDP and Anni can return to power. NO WAY.
If MDP wants to things legally and peacefully I would be at the fore front of it and would even be willing to go to jail for that as I have in the past.
Good job as always, wish more people were as clear thinking as this. ie wish those posting the same old stuff after each insightful article wouldn't buy (or let themselves be bought by )the puppetmasters' propaganda, get out on the street, open their eyes and do some research, instead of bandying 3 names about and calling the MDP thugs as well as putting out the same old statistics (clearly wrong: even a glance can tell, these aren't just Male people, just wake up). There is no justification for this coup by cronies that started all this mess and Waheed's behaviour reveals his complicity. If he put the national interest above self interest we would have a date for early elections now.Actions speak far louder than his (cagey) words. The puppetmasters (we all know who they are) are just waiting to fool the maximum amount of people, because some are willing to trade their freedom for so called stability, in other words self interest above national interest. That is what this is all about and anyone who denies it is in denial.
786! Peace!
@ Nix / Ahmed.
âExpunge the âGOONâ elements from its midst(MDP) calling for action that leads the country to confrontationâ.
The above is what I said. I did not mention Reeko or Mariya or anybodyâs name! Is this an example of what my son talks about when he says .. âIF THE HAT FITS, FIT IT ONâ ? ď
I agree with you though, that there are broken records going on and onâŚ. Not least Like a coup taking place, that of Prezident Nasheed being forced to resign, the demands for President Waheed to step down, That President Waheed is a n outlaw, the demand for early elections, the incendiary tones of how the response should be. These ideas repeats and repeats - WE CAN ALL SEE THIS.
As you would admit these ideas are being repeated ad infinitum. Consider! When that is so wouldnât you expect the reaction to those repetitions be repeated too? Ad infinitum!I would have thought the reaction is obvious
@ Nix
You claim that injustice has been done. Assuming you are right; The answer does not lie in burning half of Male and Âź of the rest of the country. Your answer lies in the courts. Before you take the matter to the courts you cannot know the outcome. (As the good Thimarafushi member happily found out) The dictum is everybody is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. If you thought about it,we are in a different ball game you know!Haven't you heard President Waheed go all poetic about the rule of law? Nobody can fault him on that. Can we?
@ Ahmed
You claim common sense and decent people have been blocked by a âBADâ constitution. Does the answer lie in getting the unsocial elements in Maleâ to show their colours by burning public property, throwing bricks, brutalising the police? It would seem to me your answer lies not in acts certain to lead to violence but again (sorry for the repetition!) the COURTS. If you have issues with the constitution, work for consensus amongst the people produce a 2/3 rds majority in the parliament and THEN CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION.There is enough work to be done rather than killing, maiming, burning.
Finally day after day we are seeing violence, violence and more violence. Iâm sorry as that continues there will be people who will keep on repeatedly praying, begging you to STOP THE VIOLENCE.
We live in a different world. DIALOGUE and NON VIOLENCE can work. Brother Nix, Brother Ahmed as long as violence continues we will call the same old broken record STOP THE VIOLENCE.
Itâs not only you! Not only you, but Many thousands and thousands of Maldivians too feel terribly, horribly let down.
What happened to the beautiful promises OF CHANGE? The Promises of clean Govt? What happened to the condemnation of nepotism and party cronyism? What happened to the promises of the rule of law?
What about the freedom of expression, the freedom to differ, reduced to it being subject to the call on different stages like..â either you are with us, or you arenât with us, one way or other with the fist or not we will get it done â THE WAY WE WANTâ?
with that they gave round the clock police guard to the STATUES? Does it make sense? WHAT OF THE ELECTORATE THAT BROUGHT YOU TO POWER? WHAT ABOUT MY VOTE that got you your 25%? WHAT ABOUT MY VOTE? MY FAMILY'S VOTE - FOR CHANGE?
So! What happened to the promise of protecting Islam? In 3 years we saw every single of these promises trampled like never before, in the history of Maldives. Just as we see dark crowds heralding storms we saw the power of lashing tongues, screeching shrill voices and threats upon threats dispel peace of mind and unity amongst us.
AND YOU ARE ASKING ME TO SHUT UP?
Brother! If they left ISLAM alone, yes I, as the majority of Maldivians could and would have shut my mouth. For the fact is most of us care 2 hoots who is on that chair. All we need is a bit of food, a few green backs to keep the tuition Sir coming to teach our kids. But then, a red line was crossed. I wonât keep my mouth shut any more. Like many hard working simple people in this beautiful land of ours, I will work to make my vote count - For Islam. That Insha Allah we will, even if we are beaten senseless - until our last breath.
P.S.
If itâs too much pls scroll down. Please forgive me if I have said something to upset you and if I have not been anything but truthful. My apology is sincere. We are after all brothers, your hurt is mine, My hurt should be yours. Assalamu Alaikum. đ
@Ahmad brother your words are awesome man you are speaking some important sentiments... Just to let you know to brace yourself because when you speak truth like this you suffer for it, the world thrives on lies to support the unjust greed and will to power which drives it so when you speak justice, compassion, that world is going to crush you... Buy you have to have faith that all pain for a just cause has its reward, please be strong brother when you find out what I am talking about
Well, Jamee, you stopped proving that president Nasheedâs resignation left no question of validity. Instead you admitted that it was invalid by arguing that president Richard Nixonâs resignation was also forced implying that we must be imposed how an invalid resignation by the US president Richard Nixon was treated. It is not true by any means. We must be guided by the rules of our own Constitution.
To see if Nasheedâs resignation was valid we must read the Constitution on the resignation of the president. The Clause on this topic says that the president may resign if he wants to. This means that it must be a decision of his free will uninfluenced by a third party or conditions beyond his control.
If what he said in his resignation statement were important as some of his political opponents seem to point out, he said he was resigning because if he decided to remain in office that would result in bloodshed in the country which he never wanted to be the case. These words quite clearly show that Nasheed was compelled to resign and a forced resignation is not valid under the Constitution of this country.
Whether the US president Richard Nixon resigned under duress and whether a forced resignation was valid under the US Constitution or it was acceptable to the US citizens of the day in no way alter the unconstitutionality of president Nasheedâs resignation in the Maldives. The constitutional position then is that president Nasheed was ousted in a coup which itself is unconstitutional. There is no way therefore that Dr Waheed is constitutionally the president of this country and his regime is illegitimate.
Rania, in the question whether Dr Waheed is or is not the legitimate president of the Maldives, the question of how many voted for Nasheed in the first round of the 2008 presidential election does not arise, because he was elected by a majority of the votes in the second round. When it comes for the popularity of the president, but not the legitimacy, does the issue of the percentage of voters who voted to him play a part in the argument.
So, for Dr Waheed to be the president legitimately the president's position must be legally vacant. It cannot be vacated by military force and another made to occupy it. The Constitution lays down ways by which the presidential office will become vacant.
One the president must resign in accordance with the Constitution. Second, the president must be removed by the parliament in the manner prescribed in the Constitution. The Constitution mentions the reasons for which the president will be impeached.
The military and the opposition rebel leaders say the change of government followed president's resignation. But the resignation fails to comply with the Constitution in that president Nasheed said he resigned to avoid a bloodbath in this country. So, he was forced to resign; it was not his free will to resign; therefore, it is invalid and the presidency was not vacant to be succeeded by the Vice President legally, at least.
The worst comments I see here are from those who say they support MDP and still wants to kill it and the democracy that they fought for. Most of them have an axe to grind because of their own selfish greed. I have come across few who speak 'I did this and that and sacrificed so much and MDP did nothing for me' and then I see them defect to Gasim or Yaamin...these are the money money yes sir types.
The worst comments I see here are from those who say they support MDP and still wants to kill it and the democracy that they fought for. Most of them have an axe to grind because of their own selfish greed. I have come across few who speak âI did this and that and sacrificed so much and MDP did nothing for meâ and then I see them defect to Gasim or YaaminâŚthese are the money money yes sir types.
Aura you have enlightened us again.I wonder what these so called lawyers and constitutional experts in the Maldives did really study. Most of them has some or other doctorate in related field but, their only interest is in safeguarding the machinations of the previous dictator.MAG. All of us who aremaldivians know that the ordinary man and the rational principles that govern the rest of the world does not apply to us. We have a unique sense of perspective to every issue. Our accountability and social values in real world terms is zilch. This is the reason why sex offenders can sit on the bench. Corrupt officials remain in office and the openly flaunt the laws. All maldivians know this and talk about this but still, these people keep on cheating the public. My understanding is that the rest of the world just doesn't fathom the mores we follow.
"jameel on Tue, 20th Mar 2012 2:15 AM
Peasant, if it is a military coup, prove it. Put your money where your mouth is. Do you know that some coups are legal."
Mutineering Police and Military declaring disloyalty to an elected civilian government is proof enough for me.
However there were other signs that day..
The mutineering police and armed forces on the morning of the 7th Feb. was addressed by the current Minister Nazim, translated to English- "I have met senior defense officials and we have a guarantee now that without any preconditions, the President of the Republic will now resign by today, and the Vice President shall be sworn in."
The recording of Anni asking for protection of his family just before leaving the defence headquarters. Clearly he had no authority over them, to be afraid for his familys' safety.
The fact that rogue police openly sided with one group of political parties, thrashing the MDP Haruge. The fact that MNBC was taken over by the police, the brother of the current president being part of the raiding party. The fact that VTV transmission was being broadcasted from MNBC studios after the take over. The fact that all of this happened BEFORE the Presidents resignation.
The fact that Umar Naseer and gang openly called for the military to overthrow the govt of President Nasheed a week prior, meeting the then VP and openly supporting the replacement of the President with the VP.
Please don't take my word for calling this a coup, the above are substantiated facts which happened on camera.
That is proof enough, no? Time to get your head out from the sand bro.
And no I didn't know some coups were legal in this country. Please enlighten me.
Azra go back to school.