Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has circulated a video of an opposition press conference held early on January 31, following an early morning meeting between former Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan and opposition leaders.
The meeting with Dr Waheed included President of the Adhaalath Party Sheikh Imran, Vice President of former President Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer, and Vice President of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef.
Nasheed and the MDP contend that his resignation following an attack by opposition protesters on the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) headquarters on Tuesday February 7 – in which element of the police and a smaller number of MNDF officers participated – was made under duress.
Dr Waheed’s government has maintained that the events of the day, including the takeover and rebranding of the state broadcaster, were spontaneous, and has praised the “sacrifices” of the security forces who participated.
“What happened (on Tuesday) was the culmination of a long process of political conflict and undermining of the judiciary,” President Waheed told foreign media during a press conference the morning after the alleged coup, which followed three weeks of 200-400 people protesting over the detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed.
“I think it is unfair for anyone to accuse me of joining the opposition. I will continue this government in the spirit of coalition,” Dr Waheed said.
In the video of the opposition press conference eight days earlier, Umar Naseer claimed that President Nasheed had pledged “not to hold elections in 2013”.
“Hence, the December 23rd Coalition, all the different stakeholders of the coalition and all the opposition political parties are calling out to the police and the army to come out and pledge allegiance to Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, and not to implement any order given by Mohmed Nasheed,” Naseer said.
The coalition of opposition parties was formed following a well-attended ‘Defend Islam’ rally on December 23. Opposition leaders at the protest had criticised Nasheed’s Islamic credentials, accusing him of “building churches”, defending the Addu City ‘idols’ (SAARC monuments) and failing to condemn United Nations Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay for her suggestion that flogging be abolished as a punishment for extra-marital sex.
“We the Coalition of 23rd December has decided that from right this moment onwards, to step up the work we have been doing until today, to move things into the second phase,” said Sheikh Imran Abdulla, President of the religiously conservative Adhaalath Party, at the meeting on January 31.
“All of us in the Coalition have decided to pledge allegiance to Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik,” Naseer said.
At the press conference, DRP Vice Presdient Shareef said President Nasheed was a “huge threat to Maldivians”, and had “to be stopped immediately.”
“We believe Mohamed Nasheed has no legal standing to be the President of the Maldives. He has undermined the power of the courts, and completely abolished law and order in Maldives.
“He has tarnished the sanctity of the Supreme Court of the Maldives, and by giving illegal orders to the security forces, started injuring citizens.
“So before we go to a scarier, more dangerous blood shed, we have asked the Vice President to save this nation. I would like to call upon the security forces [to accept that] since the Vice President is a person elected by Maldivians, and should the President be incapacitated to perform his legal duties, the Vice President must assume the duties of the President.”
Recording of the January 31 press conference:
Transcript
Sheikh Imran, President of the Adhaalath Party:
In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most beneficent.
We had to meet at this late hour because the Government is acting out
of the boundaries of the constitution to destroy the judiciary and disenfranchise the citizens of the country, and because President Nasheed has indicated to us, clearly, that the 2013 elections will not be held.
(And so) we the Coalition of 23rd December has decided that from right this moment onwards, to step up the work we have been doing until today, to move things into the second phase.
The steering committee of the 23rd December Coalition has met and decided, unanimously, that we have to take things to the second phase.
(And so) we went to meet the Vice President, and having met him, we wanted to convey our decisions to the beloved citizens of the Republic of Maldives.
Hence we are meeting at this late hour. Umar will convey what we desire and the decisions we have taken.
Umar Naseer Vice President, Progressive Party of the Maldives:
Thank you very much. As you would know President Nasheed has, beyond doubt, contradicted the Constitution, and he himself has said that, he has stepped out of the chart.
And that he will not hold presidential elections in 2013.
Hence, the December 23rd Coalition, all the different stakeholders of the coalition and all the opposition political parties are calling out to the police and the army to come out and pledge allegiance to Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and not to implement any order given by Mohmed Nasheed.
And all of us in the Coalition have decided to pledge allegiance to Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.
So on behalf of this coalition we are calling on the security forces, to immediately pledge their allegiance to Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik.
As you know Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was elected by a direct vote of Maldivians, and has not acted contrary to the Constitution.
But Mohamed Nasheed has contradicted the constitution, gone outside the chart and has said he will not hold elections in 2013.
Hence we cannot say that Mohamed Nasheed is the legal ruler of Maldives.
This is the decision of the Coalition.
Mohamed ‘Mavota’ Shareef, Vice President, Dhivehi Rayithunge Party:
In the name of Allah, the most beneficent, the most merciful.
We had met tonight with the Vice President on behalf of the Coalition to let him know what we think.
We have let the Vice President know what our parties had decided.
As you might know President Nasheed is a huge threat to Maldivians.
If what President Nasheed is doing is not stopped immediately, like what has happened in other countries, we fear that this country might plunge into a civil conflict.
So we requested the Vice President to take over the government, and we call upon the security forces to immediately start obeying the orders of the Vice President
That is because President Nasheed is not the President of the Maldives anymore.
He could have only stayed on as President, as long as he had not contradicted the constitution and does not contradict the law. He is trying to sideline the constitution.
He is contradicting the constitution knowingly, and on purpose.
Hence, as Umar and our Sheikh Imran has already stated, and as we have repeatedly stated, Nasheed who was holding the post of President, is not the President of this country anymore.
We believe Kenereege Mohamed Nasheed has no legal standing to be the president of the Maldives.
He has undermined the power of the courts, and completely abolished law and order in Maldives.
He has tarnished the sanctity of the supreme court of the Maldives, and by giving illegal orders to the security forces, started injuring citizens.
So before we go to a scarier, more dangerous blood shed, we have asked the Vice President to save this nation.
In conclusion, I would like to call upon the security forces, (to accept that) since the Vice President is a person elected by Maldivians, and should the president be incapacitated to perform his legal duties, the Vice President must assume the duties of the President. (And so) we have decided that he has to start performing these duties.
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I think umar Naseer got two votes during last general election i.e his vote and his wifes.No once seems to notice him.
I hope Military should appoint him to lead the nation
What idiots! Now they have proved to the whole World that this is a coup. The MP Mahloof has also given an interview to a Sri Lankan newspaper saying that they were also involved with the Police in the forced resignation of Nasheed.
Actually who needs enemies when there are people like this to undermine their own cause.
Personally I do not care who was the President. Any legally elected President in a free and fair election can only be ousted by legal means and that is by impeachment in the Majlis or by the vote. Even if this was Gayoom I would still support him in this case.
We cannot have the Police and the MNDF impose on us a President. We would chose our own President with our votes.
Had no idea of the coup, did you, Waheed?
You tub of lard pretending to be a president
And yet VP Waheed says he had no idea this would happen and that he was completely unprepared. Well the coalition that night must have met with his wife then.
Waheed's boss is coming to Male tonight to take over. Gayoom is back tonight like the Mummy is Back.
That would be the patriotic and decent thing to do.
Who the hell on earth this guys are!!!
Who to blame??? MDP and supporters!!!!Who are the people in organized crimes!!!
Who are terror organisations!!!
Mother fu...s do not even come out on the streets!!!
These idiots are real terror organisations in Maldives!!! No citizen of madives never paid any respect to any of these idiots.Will nerver in future.
I urge all maldivians that you can c the reality.Lets all come out and let they all down on their knees!!! We will face them and put them all behind bars no matter what it takes!!!!
The minute Nasheed did anything against the constitution of this country, the legitimacy of his government was lost.
This is a joke! I think its time we look deeper into the social lives of these people and we would then know how dirty they are
Murderers,drug loads, robbers, pedophiles and slave masters of women are out there roaming freely because of what?
Look at the facts and judge President Nashid for what he has done...its that simple to know why we just drowned the country back into the dark age
I liked this video. It shows how concerned the opposition are with the constitution of Maldives, it shows Nasheed has clearly violated the constitution, it shows Dr Waheed is a legal person who can be the president of the Maldives if Nasheed is not there anymore: so in total this shows what happened is not a coup. Its a change in government in the best interest of this country. I think the opposition has done the right thing. All they did was replace the government with another legal rightful person because the previous was working beyong the rule of law and constituion. So its perfect. Nasheed should now back off doing all his drama with world media and stay quiet until the elections of 2013.
minivannews a propaganda machine for MDP elite group that has hijacked the democracy in Maldives!! what shame!!
this video only proves that it was the legitimate and genuine concern of the police officers and many other citizens that lead to this whole thing. Nasheed thought that he himself could do whatever he thought was good for the nation. The state institutions, courts, and political parties are formed for a reason. He should not have been so arrogant!
Thumbulhi be hithun e inee thahuthah araa.
Yasir, I like this video too. It shows how desperate the Opposition was, and all in the name of Allah! And nice to see these people being so Constitutional and Islamic these days eh! A real bunch of cartoons.
Lovely vedio and MDP should distribute more of this vedio to show the fall of Nasheed, and the blame is only on the MDP and there jokers, when we read comments one can get the feeling either the jokers do not understand there own language or doesn't even know English in the article.... Only thing MDP members know well is there filth and dirty mouth and Maldives is saved of the jokers today ...... Nashids democracy only he understand and well u can not expect anything form that party as there full of tugs and addicts them self ..... Waht a shame they lost a golden opportunity because of the stupidity and incompetence and illadvise by actors and drama men like Reekko and Maria,......wonder if they know anything about the constitution but how to strike and destroy taxpayers property and then Nashids wants to come back soo much so he can give contract to Heavy load to rebuild all that is destroyed by the goons
if the current president was acting outside the constitution the people selected majilis should have acted.
Not others and the military.
ok let's say the military and the others did what is desirable by the majority of the public (democracy) !!! then prove it by an election !!!!
why go around the bush?
after all this is less than 150,000 votes we are talking about. Is it so hard to get a fare result out of the election?
verify and prove whether the recent outcomes are the desire of the people or of a handful greedy for power !!!!
So President Nasheed detained a judge without a warrant. I want to know how many criminals has Judge Abdulla released without trial and if that was within Qaanoonee imu?
Dr Waheed, you called for the release for Judge Abdulla. But you did not call for the JSC to do its constitutional duty to investigate Judge Abdulla and send him to trial?
Dr Waheed you claim you are going to rule by law yet as Vice President you remained silent as Judge Abdulla made a mockery of our justice system. Not once did you call for the JSC to do its work.
You stood by and let Judge Abdulla do whatever he wanted to do, release rapists, murderers, child molesters, gangsters.
Its ironical that your son Salim Waheed has written so passionately about the obstruction of justice yet to date we have heard not one word from you on the subject.
Give us a break, we are not stupid. You said nothing, kept quiet and bided your time.
Because you wanted to be President.
Well it looks like you are working with Gayooms team. Looks like this was the plan all the way through and why you never made much of an effort expanding your party base.
Was being President worth it?
Mr. and Mr Opposition leaders, why you did makar (bad conspiracy)??? Using army, police, Coup d Etat was not the solution if u are unhappy with Anni.If he did unconstitutional thing, againist the law to detain that bad judge, go fight in majlis!!!..remove him..thats the way..
not by forcing him out with guns..
Thats not the right way sirs!!!
Mr. Mr oppostion leaders please do wisely, if you feel Anni will be a dictator, just wait 2013, lets you see wheter he is correct he will not make election. if reallly this happens, i think all maldivins will join to protest him..
dont just becuz suspicious..thats a sin, sir..pls b fear to Allah...
It is shamfull to see such a video so clearly criminal. It is more than clear now for the world that the complete act was a coup d'etat. These criminal people acting in the shadow agains a democratic elected goverment are democracy criminals that caused not only unrest but blood spread in the Maldives. Are you blind not to see it? They did never use legal procedures but blood and intead. IT WAS NO MORE NO LESS a COUP. Wake up men and women of Maldives.
dicTATOR nasheed was too greedy and wanted all for his lover Mariya and his corrupt friend Rekko Moosa the whole Nation's wealth!! Amazing!! This a real story who came from jail to a president and back to jail (god willing). Nice story!
Thanks JJ Sir.