Indian Foreign Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai has visited the Maldives for the second time in just a few weeks since ousting of former President Mohamed Nasheed, to observe the progress of the cross-party peace talks.
Mathai was a key proponent of a ‘roadmap’ document proposing early presidential elections, with necessary amendments to the constitution and laws to be completed within a month’s time. Minivan News understands that Mathai participated in last night’s round of talks.
The Indian High Commission has released a press statement stating that Mathai had “extensive consultations” with all parties individually.
“The objective of [Mathai’s] visit was to take forward the political process and continue India’s engagement with all parties concerned,” the statement read.
“In this connection, the foreign secretary had extensive consultations with all parties individually and collectively. All parties expressed the view that India had played a very useful role in taking the process forward as a facilitator and friend of the Maldivian people,” it said.
The statement also stated that there had been a “broad measure of agreement” during the talks between the parties, which had “identified key important principles”.
Those principles included continuing dialogue to find a possible agreement on the amendment of the constitution and enactment of legislation for institutional reform.
All the parties had recognised the need to undertake the necessary amendments and legislation within a short time period in parliament, and highlighted the importance of parties continuing consultations for a possible agreement for early elections within and out of the All Party Consultative Committee (APCC)
Local media had reported that the meeting was “heated” due to the participation of Mathai, with representatives of some parties expressing their “dismay” at the Indian government “interfering in the domestic affairs of the country and trying to rush towards an early election.”
Facilitator of the talks, Ahmed Mujuthaba, told Minivan News that he was too busy to speak about how the meetings went last night.
However, local newspaper Haveeru reported that Mujuthaba had admitted that there were some “dis-satisfactions” during the talks regarding Mathai’s intervention, but said the talks had gone well.
The roadmap document promoted by India was “not something proposed formally”, he told Haveeru, and that “the agenda of the talks has been decided by the participants of the talks.”
Former President Nasheed said this morning, amid ongoing protests calling for early elections, that the parties in support of the current government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan had now showed hesitation towards early elections “despite agreeing on it earlier.”
MDP Parliamentary group leader and the party’s representative at the talks, MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, had not responded at time of press.
However Haveeru reported that the MDP was waiting for the outcome of the roadmap talks before deciding what stand the party would take on protests tomorrow.
President Waheed, who assumed power after the events unfolded on February 7, has called all political parties to join his ‘National Unity’ government and come to the negotiation table to discuss a peaceful political solution to the current political turbulence. MDP has refused to recognise the Waheed government’s legitimacy, and has been calling for early presidential elections.
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