Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz held a press conference late on Saturday night declaring that he was ready to accept whatever post that President-elect Abdulla Yameen offers him.
Speaking at a press conference, the commissioner commended the police force for their “exemplary performance” in ensuring that elections proceeded smoothly.
“It was one of the operational priorities of the police for 2013 to ensure that a peaceful election is held. I extend heartfelt thanks to the police team for achieving this. As a rule, we stopped giving leave to police from July 1st and they have been working towards this objective under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Saudhee since then,” Riyaz stated.
“Tonight is a very joyous night, certainly it is for me. One reason why this is so is because I have been able to lead the MPS to achieve this as the most senior uniformed officer. I would like to thank President Mohamed Waheed for having entrusted me with these responsibilities and having appointed me to this post.”
Riyaz also thanked the public for their part in ensuring smooth elections.
“We received an overwhelming amount of public support. It is something that I have always reiterated that the majority of citizens are law abiding and peace loving persons, and they have proved that today.”
“I would also like to thank both the contesting parties; their senior leaders as well as general supporters.”
“I would like to congratulate, on behalf of MPS and myself personally, the President Elect Honourable Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. Also, although he has failed, MDP candidate, too, as they also did do some very hard work,” Riyaz continued.
“Police play one of the most important parts in the development of a country. I assure citizens that the police executive team are qualified, capable, and with the mindset to achieve this.”
Abdulla Riyaz further extended thanks to the Elections Commission team, stating “It’s been a long time since the work to hold elections began. It has been delayed multiple times for various reasons. With the will of Allah, we have finally been able to conclude elections today.”
Asked by a journalist if he believed he should hand in his resignation following the election of a new president, Riyaz replied that “the President has the mandate to appoint or remove a Commissioner. I don’t believe that a commissioner needs to resign just because the government has changed. If the President Elect does want to remove me from this post as Commissioner, that is his decision to make.”
“What is important is serving the country, not the post I am in. Isn’t it too early to discuss or decide what I ought to do about my post? In any case, I was mentally prepared to being removed had the government changed differently from how it has,” he responded.
“Whatever education I have was gained with citizens’ money. So I believe I should serve the public for as long as possible. I don’t think I should comment on what my priorities will be if I remain in my post, or else it might appear as though I am too eager to hold onto this position.”
“What I do know is that a large amount of police officers want me to remain in this post. But I shall have to reconsider it a bit more. It is a job with very many responsibilities after all. I am 44 years old, going on 45, so I am wondering if it is time I took on a more relaxing job. I have been serving in uniform for 25 years now. Let’s just say that I am willing to serve the nation in whichever position that the President Elect offers me,” the commissioner continued.
“Operation Blue Wave is a huge success, as we planned way ahead from way before. We did not even have to use pepper spray. I am absolutely certain that the past two years were a time when we used minimum amounts of force,” Riyaz stated.
“This does not mean that we do not have operational tactical materials. We have tear gas and rubber bullets and all but we did not use any of it. Maldivians have shown that they no longer really support street protesting and other acts of the sort. There is no one that the arm of the law cannot touch. This is what I have been showing the public in these past two years,” he concluded.
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Now he confesses to it after having his thugs deny everything?
OMG look at that "Headline"! Guess you will go to any level to spread your anger on the people of the Republic of Maldives.
Today's most important news is that President elect Hon. Mr. Yamin has been sworn in as the sixth President of the Maldives.
Even former President Nasheed and Gayoom attended the ceremony and seated next to each other. Below is an interesting photo:
http://i42.tinypic.com/okzzpd.jpg
Enjoy Hating the people ans spreading lies Minivan!
i hope the police visibility in the streets of Male' will be more to avoid this criminal activities as a new government is established.
some more photos from haveeru.com :
http://i41.tinypic.com/zl6xj9.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/vxz2ab.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2ewzmsw.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/ndu69c.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/fu3nna.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2zs1xm1.jpg
@ Ann
what more should you expect from this website? even the person who wrote the article is a full time MDP activist. Just have a look at how much hatred this person spread on social media (twitter, facebook) at everyone other than MDP.
I understand, i spoke to a senior MDP official today.
He said that Minivan is simply doing their job and that is what foreign journalists in Minivan are paid to do.
@Aith and Ann,
Please talk about the issue. The headline is correct, that is a quote from Riyaz, I saw him say that on live tv. Take a look at any publication, of course they have a stance. Minivan is for liberal Maldivians and the expat community.
Unfortunately for the expats they cannot read other dhivehi sites to compare the level of "bias" in Minivan and other news websites. I suspect many would understand the idiocy of your rants regardless.
Why don't you two stick to Sun.mv etc? They have lots of unbiased reporting mostly about the 'Laadheenee' bogeyman.
Riyaz has a small you know what...but he assures us he has a lot of self-love and tear gas and rubber bullets should the need arise. And he is also willing to show some of his loving to President Yameen.
Lets face it Riyaz is a disgrace to the Police force, and they would be better off without him. Not to mention the amount of murders and crimes that has gone up since this man took over the reigns after the coup.
@Ann by the way Minivannews is an independently run website, it is not an arm of MDP or paid for by the party.
Yes it has a bias towards democracy, liberalism, human rights and all that nonsense. And by far it is one of the most reliable news websites around as it tends to report facts instead of fairy tales or boogey man stories.
Media leaning to the left or right is common place in any democratic society.
End of the day, it's up to the reader to choose.
CRiyaz did not have to use their weapons because the people chose not to opt for violence. We chose to opt to vote and we did what we could to make it happen. We caused this election with our stand for democracy. I think C Riyaz is in the wrong profession. He will do very well writing scripts for Hollywood.
News has to be covered from all angles and not everyone must agree. Just to learn to stomach it and respond with good humor.
I will defend Minivan now because the Maldives needs opposition-aligned media. I don't think its any surprise that Minivan would be critical of Mr. Riyaz given his unpopularity among MDP's membership.
Ainth and Ann just please try and remember the split vote that brought Mr. Yameen to power. The country is almost equally divided. Even with the influence of money on the elections I think it would be safe to assume that no one party can claim an overwhelming hold over the people. So let Minivan report and point out any errors of fact or obvious distortion of the same. However don't let the fact that Minivan employs foreign journalists color your comments.
I think the journalists at Minivan can do a wonderful job to train our young who work there. If the experience helps build the media industry then I'm all for it because there is a serious dearth of training opportunities for the young individuals who work in the various TV stations and print outlets here.
Most journalists in the Maldives are taught by self-made writers who worked in a time of self-censorship and absolute deference towards the government line. This deficit in a culture of critical journalism contributes to the absolute lack of urban youth interest in Divehi-language news stories. A lot of the young now get their updates and opinions from their peers on social media networks.
“Tonight is a very joyous night, certainly it is for me. One reason why this is so is because I have been able to lead the MPS to achieve this as the most senior uniformed officer."
Sad to see a grown man grovelling in public to keep his job. Why did he even have a press conference again?
What a stand up guy! If all the government officials in Maldives have half this man's integrity, this place has a bright future.
This is the same man who defiantly spoke against the findings of the Police Integrity Commission regarding the illegal act of police personnel in stopping an election. Whilst the PIC found those police personnel did go beyond their duty, the guy shown here has vowed that no action would be taken against them.
Democracy, my foot.
The twat is begging to keep his job. What a moron and low life.