Something's foul in the nation of Maldives: Why President Yameen needs to be stopped

The political situation in the island nation of Maldives has been swinging from the tragic to the farcical in the last two months as President Yameen struggles to retain his hold on power. Having sent his nemesis – former President Nasheed – to 13 years prison on an utterly bogus charge of ‘terrorism’, Yameen thought that the remaining leaders could either be persuaded or bought off or brow-beaten into submission.

Former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb, who was part of the ruling coterie at the time, has now revealed that the charges against Nasheed were “masterminded under direct government scheming and influence”. As if the world did not know!

Though the statement is utterly unsurprising, what is new in his revelation is that he has agreed to make the declaration in a court of law thereby undermining the very essence of the ‘terrorism’ charge.

The other key opposition figure Qasim Ibrahim has also been imprisoned on and off in the month of April on charges that could not be substantiated before the court. However, what Yameen could not digest was the opposition of his own family patriarch – former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, also the president of the ruling party, who now heads the Joint Coalition in defence of democracy in the Maldives.

Gayoom’s son Faris Maumoon, who was an MP, too quit the ruling party and joined the Opposition’s bid to impeach the Speaker Abdullah Maseeh. He was arrested on 18 July and still remains in police custody.

On the same day, the Elections Commission (EC) declared that four other MPs, who defected from the ruling party to the opposition in March, April and July had lost their seats, and announced by-elections. On 20 July, the four MPs appealed the EC’s decision at the Supreme Court.

One month since the lawmakers lodged their appeal, the apex court is yet to announce a ruling. The EC’s declaration regarding the four MPs followed a controversial Supreme Court ruling on 13 July. That ruling stated that MPs who were elected on a political party ticket would lose their seat if the EC notifies Parliament that the MP has either left their party, been expelled, or switched parties.

However, the Supreme Court also specifically clarified that the ruling could not be applied retrospectively.

The Elections Commission’s declaration that the MPs had lost their seats, in effect, contradicted the Supreme Court’s ruling.

To make matters worse, they were all arrested between 24 and 28 July and remanded in police custody for 15 days before a crucial vote of no-confidence against the Speaker, scheduled for 31 July.

A week prior to this, on 24 July, the National Defence Force locked up the gates of the Parliament and prevented entry of all MPs, which was not only in violation of the Constitution but against all parliamentary norms and was unprecedented in the history of the island nation.

Several MPs who resisted and tried to force their entry were bodily removed and arrested.

The military siege of Parliament was in effect on 31 July and as the MPs trooped in, they saw the Speaker sitting behind a phalanx of soldiers. The session was adjourned within two minutes without taking up the main order of the day – the no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The President was afraid that his party MPs would desert him in large numbers and impeach the Speaker.

Now the Opposition is more than united and determined not only to impeach the Speaker but the President himself.