Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, who announced his resignation on television, explained his move thus:
“I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power. I believe that if the government were to remain in power it would require the use of force which would harm many citizens.
“I resign because I believe that if the government continues to stay in power, it is very likely that we may face foreign influences.”
Said a member of Mr. Nasheed's inner circle: “When someone points a gun at your head and asks you to go, I don't know what to call that other than a coup.”
A spokesman of the PPM, an outfit floated by the former President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said: “He had to go after all the atrocities he committed on the people. If not today, it would have been tomorrow.”
Key trigger
Lawyers and all court officers joined in a movement against Mr. Nasheed after he arrested a judge on charges of corruption last month. Police broke ranks on Tuesday morning and precipitated it.
Key players
The military: Visible in Male. It has been staunchly behind Mr. Nasheed all along. There have been differences of opinion on handling the current crisis.
Mr. Gayoom: Now in Malaysia. His newly founded party, the PPM, upping its campaign against Mr. Nasheed and Mr. Nasheed's ouster do not seem mere coincidences. Now, Mr. Gayoom is well-entrenched. He appears to have support from many atolls, going by reactions here, apart from the Nasheed strongholds of Male and Addu.
China: Mr. Nasheed held up its proposal to put up a $1 billion resort-cum-casino for long. China opened a diplomatic post here in November, coinciding with the SAARC summit; it is only the fifth country to do so.
India: Maldives is closer to India than most people think — Lakshadweep's farthest island in the south Arabian Sea, Minicoy, is hardly an hour by boat from the Maldives' northernmost atoll. Both the Maldives and Minicoy speak Diwehi.
What can happen
India, despite its public posture, can intervene and find a via media candidate who is acceptable
Mr. Gayoom can drum up support from a few in the opposition, minus the party he founded 30 years ago, the DRP, and installs his men — with tacit support from China.
Status quo continues till the next elections (2013-end) with international endorsement.
Keywords: Mohamed Nasheed, Maldives crisis, Maldives police mutiny
I appreciate Mr Nasheed for his smooth handing over of his presidency, without much misuse of power at this time to save it, the action which would obviously be detrimental to civilian life. You call it democratic way or other wise, western way of doing things or the 'non-western' ways of behaving, but the fact that there is less trouble for common people during a regime change is really praiseworthy.
For the Western world, Nasheed followed a well written script portraying himself as the epitome of democratic leadership fighting against the evils of climate change. For the local people, he was a congenial liar who broke the coalition on which he was elected to the office. He quickly turned out to be worse than the former dictator Gayoom. Locals voted in another dictator...a case of from the frying pan into the fire. Nasheed's three years of office also saw corruption index hitting the level of Zimbabwe.
He awarded millions of $ renewable energy projects to his brother Nashid and dredging projects to his friend and chairperson of his party Reeko Moosa. When the Parliament did not endorse privatisation of the international airport and awarding it to the Indian operator GMR, actions he took were brutal and dramatic. He went on to kidnap top Judiciary Abdulla. Demise of a dictator...lessons to be learned!
Please Email the Editor