President resigns in Maldives

Written by Graeme Gourlay Tuesday, 07 February 2012 10:14

The Maldive's first democratically elected president in decades resigned on Tuesday following a revolt by police officers supporting the the previous regime.
President Mohamed Nasheed said in a nationally televised address that he was stepping down because he didn't feel he was able to maintain security and peace in the country. The Foreign Office has warned about political unrest in the country but has not issued any further travel advice.
'This morning, about 500 opposition supporters along with some Islamic hardliners protested outside the army headquarters, shouting slogans and some police officers mutinied and joined them,' Nasheed's spokeman said. 'And so, the president was in a situation where he could either tell the army to forcibly crack down on the protesters or he could step down. He chose the latter.'
The police officers appeared to have sided with the Progressive Party, which is loyal to former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled Maldives for 30 years before Nasheed defeated him.
'This is a situation where the first democratically elected president in the Maldives is taken down by a former dictator and his supporters,' the spokesman said.
Former journalist Nasheed had faced strong criticism in recent months from opposition groups calling for Islam to play a greater role in the running of the country.
Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan has taken temporary charge following Nasheed's departure.
In 2008, Nasheed became the country's first democratically elected president in 30 years. Since then, the secular nation of about 350,000 Muslims has been grappling with the role of Islam in government, spurred in part by the supporters of Gayoom. More than 200,000 of the population live on the capital island Male where all of the protests and unrest has been taking place.
The nation was rocked by violent protests last year that Nasheed accused Gayoom's supporters of orchestrating. But demonstrators said at the time they were protesting economic conditions, created by reforms imposed by Nasheed.
The government also clashed with opposition groups in December over the issues of massage parlors and the sale of pork and alcohol in resorts.
Tuesday's events unfolded after about 200 policemen gathered in Republic Square in the capital, Male, according to Ahmed Rasheed, an executive producer at the state TV station.
A peaceful standoff with members of the Maldives defense forces in the square turned violent early Tuesday morning, he said, describing the situation in Male as 'chaos.'
The policemen took over the state TV station later Tuesday morning. They changed its name from the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation back to its old name, Television Maldives.