This article first appeared on Dhivehisitee. Republished with permission.
On 4 July, 2012, Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives until February 7 that year, testified at the Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) on how his government came to an end. Present were co-chairs of the Commission Justice Selvam and Ismail Shafeeu, members Dr Ibrahim Yasir, Dr Fawaz Shareef and Ahmed Saeed. Observing for the international community were Sir Bruce Robertson and Professor John Packer.
In essence, my statement is very small… I was forced to resign. I resigned under duress. I was threatened. If I did not resign within a stipulated period it would endanger mine and my family’s life. I understood they were going to harm a number of other citizens, party members. They were going to literally sack the town. I felt that I had no other option, other than to resign.
Despite CoNI being a national inquiry looking into the highly suspicious end of a government elected by the people, all testimonies collected have been kept from the public. Having come into possession of a copy of the transcript of Nasheed’s spoken testimony to CoNI on 4 July, I have summarised its contents and shared it with you here. What is contained here is not Nasheed’s entire testimony that day, but only the parts concerning the last few hours of his presidency. Care has been taken, however, to ensure no information has been taken taken out of context, added, or deleted from the text and to remain faithful to Nasheed’s words as contained in the transcript.
President Mohamed Nasheed arrived at Bandaara Koshi at 5:00 am on 7 February 2012. Operation Liberty Shield was supposedly underway, but the place was almost deserted. About 300 personnel in total, most of them in plainclothes, milled about lethargically. There were several generals present—Chief of Defence Moosa Jaleel, General Shiyam, General Nilam, General Ibrahim Didi. The military HQ was on red alert, but most of the generals looked as if they were on holiday.
From the late evening of 6 February, Nasheed had been busy trying to control the situation from Mulee Aage, his residence. Judging from police behaviour during protests on the preceding days, the President was convinced the police must be removed from the scene. He knew plans were afoot to have his government illegally overthrown in a coup. A week earlier, he received a seven page letter from military intelligence. It outlined in detail a plot to illegally overthrow the government.
Attempting to control the situation on the evening of February 6, he had two major concerns: the police might attack MDP supporters, and they might attack the military. On hindsight, the president would come to see that he could also have arranged for MDP supporters to disperse. Other actions would have led to other consequences. But, at that moment in time, he trusted his supporters to maintain order more than he did the police. He was assured by the MDP MP leading the protests there would be no disruptions.
He ordered the police to be removed and for the military to takeover.
Seven hours later, the military was yet to take any action.
The President felt he must go to the scene. He needed to see for himself, assess what was happening. That is the kind of person he was.
Before he left, he checked with the military personnel inside the headquarters.
“We have the capacity to bring out a 1000 troops,” they assured, beckoning him.
Nasheed walked to the HQ. What he found were the generals who looked as if they were on vacation, and no plan of attack. He had suspected as much. As a history enthusiast, he had studied in detail every coup that took place on the islands in the past 200 years.
He could read the signs, he knew when a coup was brewing.
**********
Inside, Nasheed met with his Home Minister Afeef, Defence Minister Tholhath, and Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh.
“What should I do?” he asked them each individually.
Each replied the police must be restrained, arrested.
Twice, the military advanced only to retreat shortly afterwards. They treated the police with kid-gloves, there was no command. As the situation deteriorated, Nasheed rang the Chief Justice and the Speaker of Parliament. He felt that all organs of the state should be present at such a crisis. Both men agreed to come.
Nasheed also rang various MDP MPs, requesting their help at the scene. And, he made several attempts to contact the Vice President.
“But, of course,” those attempts were futile.
“The Vice President should be behind the President at a time like this,” Nasheed thought. “He should have come on his accord to be here.”
Waheed did not come. Nor did he answer the phone. Perhaps he was asleep? He was still up at 2:00 a.m. in the morning, Nasheed knew. The Vice President had appeared on television then, with a statement on the events.
Incidentally, Nasheed’s wife Laila and Waheed’s wife Ilham shared the same make-up artist. Whatever the whereabouts of Waheed, through his wife’s beautician, Nasheed would later learn that by 7:00 am of 7 February, Ilham was groomed for a special occasion.
In the early hours of 31 January, Waheed had met with the opposition in his home. Nasheed sought him out in the intervening period, but Waheed avoided him. The Vice President provided the President with neither advice nor assistance. When quizzed by Ministers in their government, Waheed refused to share any information about his meeting with the opposition.
Speaker Shahid and Chief Justice Faiz never turned up.
Some MPs did respond to Nasheed’s call for help. From his vantage point inside the military headquarters, Nasheed saw how each were beaten up. The attacks on individuals soon became a barrage, spreading across the entire area. It was to continue for the next two hours.
“In the net”
Inside the headquarters, the President’s phone had very little reception. It was not because the signal was jammed, although it should have been. Jamming the signal and providing him with another phone would have been a good strategy, Nasheed thought. He saw General Shiyam on the phone, sending a constant stream of text messages and receiving many phone calls. “Who but the President should Shiyam be in touch with at that moment in time?” Nasheed wondered.
Despite the bad reception, from time to time, President Nasheed received updates from members of his government and MDP. He heard about MNBC One being under attack. He heard police and military had taken over the airport, had control of the immigration counters.
He also heard Gayoom was up all night, co-ordinating the anti-government efforts from Malaysia. According to reports Nasheed received, on receiving news that he was at the military headquarters Gayoom said, “He is in the net.”
For all intents and purposes, Nasheed was now a captive, falsely imprisoned inside the military headquarters. His security detail, the Special Protection Group [SPG], were guards, not protectors. Their leadership was changed the day before, a man called Rauf replaced the former Chief. Rauf was in charge of protecting the President and his family, but, all day he languished outside the gates. No assurances of safety were forthcoming from him.
**********
Through the course of the next two hours, Nasheed went up and came down several times. He saw MP Mariya Didi being attacked. It was astounding. He saw the Deputy Minister being attacked. He saw other MPs assaulted. He saw the police headquarters being attacked.
[Between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning] Nasheed went outside to speak to the mutinying police. His Police Commissioner no longer believed they were police, and refused to negotiate with them. Nasheed’s attempt was in vain. He could not agree to their demands for a pardon. It was not that he didn’t have the power or the authority.
“But”, he thought, “who am I to pardon before an investigation?”
Still, he promised them he would do his best for them. His promise went unheeded by the mutineers.
Inside the military HQ, he tried to talk to the soldiers. He had tried to do the same earlier, when he took a walk inside the premises shortly after his arrival. Some of the soldiers were playing chess, he noticed. Before he could conclude his walk, General Shiyam had intercepted him.
“They don’t want you to be walking around here,” the General said. He did not give a reason. It was possible soldiers of lower ranks had been told not to obey the President’s orders.
This time he met with about fifty soldiers from the lower ranks.
“You are taking the country to the dogs. You must do something,” he wanted to tell them.
“My wife is being attacked by MDP supporters,” one of them replied.
“A policeman has been murdered,” said another.
“That is not true. We don’t do that. We are a party in government and we govern,” the President responded.
“Will you come out with me to restrain a rebellious force?” he asked.
“If even 10-20 people agreed, I will lead them out,” the President thought.
Only one of them was willing. The rest said the President should resign.
*********
Nasheed saw police re-enforcements arriving in Male’ on speedboats. The boats belonged to Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa company.
“Strange,” he thought. Never in his position as Commander in Chief had he ordered the security forces to use Gasim’s vessels. All of them were in uniform.
“We will lynch you. We will hang you,” Nasheed heard them. They had ropes.
The violence escalated to a level Nasheed had never imagined he would see in the Maldives.
“I am going to die right now if I don’t resign”, he thought. Naseem [former foreign minister Mohamed Naseem] arrived.
“Mohamed Amin was standing right here when he was lynched,” Nasheed remarked. Amin was the first president of the Maldives. His bloody end in the hands of an angry mob is described in the recently published Orchid, reminding the public afresh of violence past.
Nasheed contemplated his options. He could go out and face the crowd, leave the rest to God.
“Please don’t do that,” Naseem pleaded with Nasheed. The Minister was crying. Both of them had grown up listening to the stories of Amin’s lynching. MP Riyaz joined Naseem’s plea.
“You are being silly. You don’t need to die today. There will be a tomorrow.”
**********
“Back off! We are opening the gate!” the President heard.
Nazim, Riyaz and Fayaz walked into the HQ when the gates, earlier shut under a direct order from the Presdent, were opened. There was no reason for them to be in the building, no capacity in which they could legally enter the premises.
The President knew when Nazim had arrived, he had heard the uproar with which the man’s presence had been greeted. Through the walls of the second floor room in which he was in, the President also heard Nazim address the crowds through a megaphone. He never met Nazim or the other two men inside the military HQ. Nor did he know which part of the building they were in. Once they arrived, Nasheed could not move without being restrained by someone.
“You cannot go there,” General Shiyam said when he tried to go upstairs, to the second wing. The General, whose lack of uniform at a time when the military was on red alert appeared to Nasheed as a sign of desertion, was categorical in his order. He offered no explanation.
“Someone else…someone from the opposition…Nazim? Umar Naseer? Someone was there”, the President would later speculate. “Someone was controlling operations from the other wing of the building.”
Twice the SPG, under new chief Rauf’s command, physically restrained the president. When Nasheed heard about MDP Haruge being ransacked he felt it was his duty to go. Faisal, now a major, held him back. Their excuse was that it was not safe for the president.
They checked his belongings. He had to ask their permission to use the toilet.
“Am I under arrest?” he asked.
Nasheed realised how foolish the question sounded. “I cannot be under arrest”, he thought. “But, of course, I am,” he countered himself.
Jailed several times during Gayoom’s regime for dissent, once detained in solitary confinement for 18 months, the President was familiar with arrest procedures. If he were to use the toilet without permission, they would break in. He had experienced it first hand twice before. His current guards had ‘Forensics’ written all over them.
Among them were faces he could never forget—they belonged to individuals who had interrogated and tortured him before. Soon after Nasheed’s first child was born and while he was expecting his second, one of them had ransacked his home. The man had meticulously gone through every single toy belonging to his young daughter.
“He wants to re-enact that,” Nasheed thought.
He knew these people well. He knew Abdulla Riyaz, was aware of the type of person he is. These people were not searching for anything in specific. The President knew it was an attempt to undress and demoralise him.
“They are trying to make you capitulate,” Nasheed thought. He knew torture and punishment were their preferred tactics.
“People outside are shouting and calling for you to be lynched”, they told him.
“You are going to lynch me from the inside,” he retorted.
**********
The President made the decision to resign at the precise moment he heard the gates ofBan’deyri Koshi being opened. He could hear the din of the baying crowd right outside.
“Mr President, if you don’t resign, they will kill you. They will sack [sic] Male’”, General Ibrahim Didi had told him earlier. The General sincerely believed it was his duty to defend the President with his life. Now, he was failing miserably. Twice the military had advanced and retreated. General Didi, an honourable man, offered to resign. Nasheed observed with concern that it was not beyond the General to contemplate suicide.
“I have only a few minutes to live”, the President now thought. The situation was dire, the country was under threat. Both his life and that of his wife, Laila, were in mortal danger. Laila had no protection in Mulee Aage, she had been forced to leave with their children. He was also convinced MPs Mariya, [Ahmed Easa] and Ibu [Ibrahim Mohamed Solih] had been killed.
But, Nasheed knew it was not safe for him to resign inside the military headquarters. Once the attack on the HQ began, four large bricks were thrown into the second floor room he was in. His precise location was no secret to the attackers outside. The bricks had left large holes in the glass. Shooting into the room through those holes would be easy.
Nasheed was aware there were guns all around him. The generals had guns, he was convinced. Even if the armoury was locked, they had the keys. As Nasheed would later come to understand, guns were moved that day from Coast Guard ships, from other barracks. There are pictures showing some of the movements. He heard KK [Kalhuthukkalaa Koshi] troops were going to join the police in their mutiny. He saw the troops. He heard that when the renegade police and military took over MNBC One earlier, they used guns and were in possession of firearms.
The President knew he must leave the building. He agreed to resign.
“But”, he said, “it would be better if I do not do it from here. I must have fresh clothes, a shave.” He was looking for an escape.
It did not work. His captors had the clothes and toiletries delivered to the HQ.
His resignation speech was to be made at a press conference in the President’s Office shortly.
Resignation: “The biggest rogue letter was written by me.”
Nasheed was taken the short distance to the President’s Office in a car. A large mob, composed not of the public but of police and military personnel, surrounded the car. They were screaming. They were banging on the President’s car. There was no security, no decorum.
Nazim, Riyaz and Fayaz were already at the President’s Office.
“These people should not be here,” he thought.
The President’s staff made several vain attempts to stop the three men. Defying everyone’s wishes and all protocol, they got into the dedicated President-only lift with Nasheed. Within the enclosed space, in the presence of Riyaz and Fayaz, Nazim dictated the words that should be in his resignation letter.
In his office, the President did not put the words on paper. It did not occur to him that he should, for he had never had any intention of resigning. For him, the agreement to resign was a ruse, a way of escaping death and leaving the military headquarters.
“The Speaker wants the letter,” Nazim told him. The President hesitated. He went to the window and looked outside. The situation appeared even worse than before. He looked at Nazim. There was a tell-tale bulge in his trousers.
“He has a gun,” Nasheed was convinced. He would later make out its outlines in a picture of Nazim with his back to the camera, taken after the resignation press conference.
“You cannot back out now. You have to go all the way,” Nazim said. The President knew clearly that his life was under threat, that he would not be allowed to live.
He began writing the letter. Twice he broke down. But he knew that if he did not remain composed, if he did not maintain decorum, there would be chaos. He took care composing the letter, including only the bare minimum of what Nazim had dictated. He would only write enough to keep Nazim happy. It was all an act. Theatre. A lie to save his life.
“The biggest rogue letter was written by me,” Nasheed would say later. He was baffled when Speaker Shahid accepted the letter, it followed none of the required official documentation processes. Nasheed wrote the letter himself. There were no reference numbers, its only nod to officialdom was the emblem on the presidential notepad he used.
Shahid is the type of person who takes pride in receiving letters. Normally, he would have telephoned Nasheed on receipt of the letter. On this day, he was silent. There was no contact. Official documentation rules require proof receipt. No such record exists for President Nasheed’s resignation letter.
Before the press conference, Nazim dictated to him what he should say in his resignation speech.
“Tell the people to keep calm and remain at home. Tell them no one should come out on the streets. Ask Moosa and Mariya to remain silent. Tell other party members not to say anything. Don’t say anything about me. You must say nothing about duress. Say that you are doing it of your own accord. Of your own free will,” Nazim dictated to Nasheed.
As with the letter, Nasheed did not say what Nazim wanted. Instead, he took Nazim’s ideas and polished them up and said the bare minimum needed to save his life and country. He did not state that he was resigning of his own free will. He did not include any instructions for Moosa Manik, Mariya Didi or anyone else to stay at home.
For Nasheed resigning was not the best option. It was the only option.
Dr Azra Naseem has a PhD in International Relations
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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nobody really believes there wasn't a coup, not even people who deny it.
@sanctum on Fri, 1st Mar 2013 4:02 PM
True. Very true. But the question to ask is, what does it matter now?
You see, the way I see it, the question was not whether it was a coup?, which was a farce used by the perpetrators in order to prolong the gas that was been spun.
Just like :
a) The constitution clearly says, a President cannot serve more than 2 times. Infact the whole constitution was based and formulated to STOP, Maumoon from running for presidency in 2008. Bue HE did. What was the consequence? Nothing!! for blatantly sidewinding the constitution.
b) The whole country believes MP Jabir was drunk that night in the island. But what happened? Nothing.
c) The whole country BELIEVES that judiciary is corrupt to the core. But they still march on.
d) The whole world believes the massive deception of religions, and the murders that clerics conspire and execute. BUT the world hypocritically gives a blind eye.
So, it never is what you see on the surface. What it boils down to is who can play the deception game best.
Former Presiden Maummon Abdull Gayoom ask me to PPM that he working to put President Nasheed in to Prison this a part of Operation liberty shield what about oppression Titanic and shooting down prison
@sanctum, Seriously?
As I see it our elected president was under a lot of tension after so many days of continuous protests. And on that final night of resignation our elected president was drinking all night long and by early morning he just wanted to call it a day and said Im done with this presidency thing. Im going home. I resign.
The following day after 12 hours when he became sobre he ealized that his closest buddies and MDP beneficiaries of the system have all lost their jobs. So there comes the 'coup' story and that he was forced to resign at gun point. Didnt we all see him talk infront of media the day he resigned?
ok there were lot of problems with the police. there were rouge elements. There were wrong doings on the part of the army. all those things happened.
This story doesn't add up either. Will Maldivians ever know what actually happened?
I frankly do not believe Nasheed is fit to be the president of this country. We need a person who is mentally fit and who brings the country before his safety and his family. What we saw on 8th Feb 2012 is a weak and afraid person who stood in front of the camera and resigned. If he loves the country more than himself and family he would sacrifice himself and not give in to the so called coup leaders. Saying "I was forced to resign. I resigned under duress. I was threatened. If I did not resign within a stipulated period it would endanger mine and my family’s life" says it all.
Having followed events that day on TV & later on the Rd, It intrigued me to know how events unfolded from President Nasheeds perspective inside the HQ. Now we have these snippets - at last! Reading over the snippets I now understand why & how the eminent Foreign experts came to their conclusions.
Dr. Naseem is in effect offering us glimpses of President Nasheed's tortured thinking process. It would have been better for Maldives & perhaps we might have had President Nasheed still sitting if he was less interested in coups in the last 200 yrs & Muhammad Amin in particular.
A heart breaking tale & the saddest thing is that innocent Maldivians are paying a HUGE PRIZE for one mans folly. God save him!
Snippets that struck me ...
“If even 10-20 people agreed, I will lead them out,” the President thought.
"Only one of them was willing. The rest said the President should resign."
*********
"The President made the decision to resign at the precise moment he heard the gates ofBan’deyri Koshi being opened. He could hear the din of the baying crowd right outside".
“Mr President, if you don’t resign, they will kill you. They will sack [sic] Male’”, General Ibrahim Didi had told him earlier
“I have only a few minutes to live”, the President now thought.
" He was also convinced MPs Mariya, [Ahmed Easa] and Ibu [Ibrahim Mohamed Solih] had been killed."
"The President knew he must leave the building. He agreed to resign".
“But”, he said, “it would be better if I do not do it from here. I must have fresh clothes, a shave.” He was looking for an escape.
"His resignation speech was to be made at a press conference in the President’s Office shortly".
"A large mob, composed not of the public but of police and military personnel, surrounded the car. They were screaming. They were banging on the President’s car. There was no security, no decorum."
Nazim, Riyaz and Fayaz were already at the President’s Office.
“These people should not be here,” he thought.
"The President’s staff made several vain attempts to stop the three men. Defying everyone’s wishes and all protocol, they got into the dedicated President-only lift with Nasheed. Within the enclosed space, in the presence of Riyaz and Fayaz, Nazim dictated the words that should be in his resignation letter"
Wow! What a tale with a tail!.
The headline should read,
Former Seyku presidents testimony blah blah...
Never saw such an idiot and then again you ask the Maldivian people to believe you with your made up snippets. for your information; us poor fisher folk know what is true from false (unlike some religion ranting unbelievers here)just watch this idiots videos from the channels to see how consistent his words are??(just like any other politician!)
Former president Nasheed was a victim of parties cronies such as Mariya, Afeef etc. Nasheed had to resign because his regime in the last few months so the most unconstitutional and most unethical behaviors ever seen openly in Maldives politics! Gayoom played the same poltics but he was more careful outwardly and managed the cronies around him, while Nasheed was seen promoting anti Islamic ideology which is even foreign to US or UK politicians! Nasheed should stoping crying and handover the power to some one more moderate within MDP other wise MDP will lose all what it has fought so far due to a dream of Nasheed of a ladheeni society!
Terrible course of events. This is how democracy was taken from us.
shimy,
The president you refer is the man who went to jail for us to have the freedom for you to write what you just wrote.
You demonstrate how seyku you are with your comments.
A very sad end to an honourable man who tried to do the best for his country. Anyone with a brain can see that, regardless of the political spectrum you come from, the way Nasheed was marched out of office was not the way we want our country to function.
I was also struck by the generosity of Gasim on that day; especially the scenes which the President himself witnessed, i.e. police coming into Male on Gasim's boats. We can clearly see today that those weren't freebies from Uncle Gasim. He is getting paid back for that! Nazim himself opened "Villa International Airport" just a couple of days ago.
I have no issue with a Villa International Airport or a Champa International Airport. What is astonishing is that the regime that threw out GMR is now in the process of handing out a monopoly to their financial backer. Gasim will in future operate INIA's secondary runway! Those boats and fuel were pennies for the pounds he is getting today.
The country is going to the dogs. Waiting in the wings is Yameen. May God have mercy on Maldivians when this tyrant takes over. If Gayyoom's rule was autocratic, ruthless and a family business, you ain't seen half of what Yameen would do.
Most of Nasheed's report is about hear say and thoughts. Nasheed did not mentioned about the unlawafull commands on the 6th night which is the true root of the cause of his resignation. In general it all displays Nasheed was unfit to be Head of State n Comander in Chief.
" I believe MDP supporter will maintain the order" what a joke from a guy who was the president. Nasheed ordered to send his thugs to start a fight at the artificial beach and remove the police just to allow the fight to take place in order for him to declare marshall law.
Fili Nasheed went inside the hq with his MP and his uncles and his party leaders and he started shouting at the army and ask them to use what ever the means to disperse the crowd.
Fili Nasheed ordered Maria to bring thugs and start the fight with the police at victory square.
Fili Nasheed gave two statement and each time his statement was different and then he was asked to bring in writing his statement since there is no consistency in his words. A guy who live on lies and false promises will never able to give a true statement.
What lie to tell that Nazim came into head quarter without the knowledge of Fili Nasheed. Fili Nasheed asked officers to bring them into head quarters to meet him to since Nazim was well respected retired person . Nazim was brought there at the request of Fili Nasheed.
This entire statement was fabricated and this is not even the statement which were given to CoNi.
But i understand that Nasheed had given three different version, and this might be another version which was typed and left with MDP people .
Fili Nasheed was telling he wanted to lead the team with 15-20 people even ? what a joke and he was given the post to lead the entire Maldives which he had failed to do. Nasheed is not a leader and he is an activist.
This statement and what had happened on the day does not telly.
Nasheed is saying that MNBC was "invaded" long before he resign but the truth of the matter is that the police had barge into the TV channel after Nasheed left from NSS head quarter and after knowing that Maizal Alibe and Reeco Moosa and some MDP thugs were inside then TV channel and they were looting the old videos and some of the evidenced from the past which will harm the MDP activist of violating the norms and rules.
We can speak, read and write freely because of the many sacrifices Nasheed made before and after being elected president. Maldivians will be free(if the goons are removed) because this man lived and he believed in freedom.
freedom is not a gift given by Nasheed. We the Maldivian faught for the freedom .
The real change happened after Evan Naseem incident ? That was a litmus test for democracy for Maldives. We all understood that people were ready to go democratic path on that day.
Where was Nasheed at that time? Nasheed was hiding in UK and true leaders showed their courage and came out on the road stayed in the republican square through the night against the dictatorial regime of Maumoon.
Nasheed was hiding as usual and then he understood that it was the right time and people now are more educated and are aware of the democratic values and people were able to digest things and people knew that they have right to freedom of speech .
When litmus test was done, Nasheed jumped and hijacked MDP and started rule like dictator .
Nasheed is not the champion of democracy and true leaders were the people who had fought on this day and they are people like, Ibra, Gasim, Reeco etc who had shown the leadership to deal the regime. One can not give the credit to Nasheed alone.
Even Gogo Latheef had done much more during that hard time in the international arena but he also seem to be sideline by Fili Nasheed these days.
Fili Nasheed will use his dirty tactics to sideline and potential threat to his leadership within the party and least democratic party in this country is MDP.
Well said stellar. Sadly though, the goons are back in charge! What they could not do wih the vote, they did with the gun.
What i understand in this news is that the police is trying to save the country in the hands of Nasheed & MDP. And, Nasheed is only worry about himself & his family while the riot & trouble in front of his house is uncontrollable.Now, Nasheed wants the people's sympathy to look that he was the good guy.
@Saabe are you nuts? The only person in danger that day was not President Nasheed and his family only, they threatened his supporters as well and threatened bloodshed. Now you imagine the scenario whereby President Nasheed announces on TV that he is being forced to resign, you imagine the uproar in the country, the Maldivians who would spill onto the streets not to mention the dozens of staff trapped inside the President's Office with men with guns. His resignation was not an act of cowardice but that of a man who did the right thing and avoided the bloodshed of many Maldivians. Cause it would have come to that
The coup leaders are so powerful that they comfortably bought off the CONI. The world is in a financial crisis and buying few guys is toffee now. As for Mr. Muley now he regrets for being sold as he have put the interest of entire India at risk. All the people who deserted Prez Nasheed are now facing retributions. Jabir, his wife, Shaahid Thas and so on. Everybody is made to suffer by the present regime. It is a matter of time before the rest will pay for their sins.
Reading this true article, there will be some who would say Nasheed is a good president. Also there will be some who deny it. But the reality we all watched and with Azra's article we as human-beings can understand when a greedy man like waheed in the capacity of a Vice President, joining Gayyoom there will be only one choice, that is what Nazim barked on a megaphone on Feb 7
To get Maldives into a situation we would have not imagined. to me was far more better than what difficulty we are going through today! And it was good to know who the good, the bad and the ugly were!
“You are being silly. You don’t need to die today. There will be a tomorrow.”!
Bravo President Nasheed!
Well thought and well decided!
It would have been really silly to die in the hands of an angry mob when he had the opportunity to live to deliver his promise to the people!
If he had died, his promise for good governance we need so much would have ended then and there!
I feel that it was good thinking on the part of a President who had a vision for his people!
Opinion however can differ!
If Nasheed was concerned about the people, why did he himself with his thugs stormed on 8th and put fire and brought so much damage to the country ?
Was he in intoxicated status ?
Waheed is very clear to buy Selva , and two UN observers who were sitting in the CoNi . ?
When last week the judge from UN said that there were concern to the judiciary , then MDP started clapping their hand saying that representative of UN will never lies and they will always see the both side and then issue the statement .
But when CoNi report is issued which are not in favor of Nasheed, the two representative from UN are corrupt and they have no credibility ?
What a double standard , Nasheed and his associates have ?
@hussain did you actually follow what happened that day? Nasheed was out demonstrating on the streets of Male along with thousands of his supporters when the police rushed at them like mad dogs and beat up so many Maldivians, and punched the elected President of the country in the face before rough handling him . The videos are on the Internet and if you would like to see the beating Maldivians took that day that's also available on the Internet, in fact channels like aljazeera was in Male covering the demonstration when police started beating them live in front of the cameras. Now despite all this evidence if you would like to beleive in some alternative fantasy theory you are most welcome to it.
Does this mean that Police need to wait until whole Maldives were burnt down by Nasheed and his thugs?
There are videos and photos on the net showing what Nasheed and his supporters had done even prior police started thier work?
There are many people who has seen that . In this country , it is not MDP members who will see things and know things and there are large number of people who are also Maldivian and who had seen the other side of Nasheed also.
We have seen with our own eyes what Nasheed and his supporter had done 6th, 7th and 8th Feb also.
We have seen what Nasheed and his MPs had done on March in the parliament also.
We have seen and heard loud and clearly when Nasheed challenge the constitution and failed upheld the rule of law in this country.
We have seen and heard how he had ruled the country like a dictator.
We have seen how much money he had taken under the table during his 3 years.
We have seen that he spent and use the tear gas to peaceful demonstrator in Maldives much more than any one in the history.
We have seen first time in the history of Maldives, Nasheed given Illegal order to use water cannon to then peaceful demonstrators.
Police and MNDF got sick of obeying illegal orders by Nasheed.
nasheed made the history of taking the country debt to nearly a billion dollars just in 3 years.
Question is, why were riyaz, nazim and the other guy in the president's office?
And why did they take upon themselves to deliver President Nasheed's resignation? letter to whoever?