The political crisis in the troubled island nation of Maldives plunged further after the ruling President of the country, Abdulla Yameen placed his country under emergency for 15 days
The press release said ‘certain rights’ of the citizens would be restricted bringing in sharp criticism from world over. In fact, the former Attorney General, set aside the emergency & termed it illegal
The declaration of state of emergency in the Maldives by the president is unconstitutional and hence without any legal effect. The legal advisors of the president have wrongly advised him about the provisions in constitution relating to state of emergency.
Arrest of Former President
Post the declaration of the emergency, President Abdulla went on an overdrive and arrested the former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who is also his half brother, for siding with the oppositon.
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was the President of the island nation for 3 decades until the country’s first democratic elections were held in 2008.
Not just that, Chief Justice and other Supreme Court judges were arrested too.
How did the crisis erupt?
The current crisis emerged after the Supreme Court of Maldives over turned the conviction of 9 opposition leaders including Former president Mohammed Nasheed. This gave opposition the upper hand as they are now a majority in the Parliament as 12 other MPs were reinstated.
The panic struck government then refused to comply to the judgement following which clashes erupted in the country.
While the world is keeping a close eye on the developments, two countries who will keenly follow this is crisis are India & China. While India has diplomatic ties with Male, China could use this to strengthen it’s string of pearls & try to weaken India in Indian ocean.