The government of the Maldives has declared a 15-day state of emergency amid a deepening political crisis between the president and the judiciary over an order to release a bunch of jailed opposition leaders.
Legal Affairs Minister Azima Shakoor declared a state of emergency on state television on Monday evening local time, prompting a fast response from the US government.
“America stands with the people of the Maldives. The Maldives government and military must respect the rule of law, freedom of expression and democratic institutions. The world is watching,” the White House National Security Council said in a post on Twitter.
The crisis in the Maldives was sparked by President Abdulla Yameen’s refusal to release nine imprisoned dissidents and reinstate opposition MPs following a shocking ruling by the Maldives’ Supreme Court.
We are asking the international community… to do everything in its power to help restore power to the people
The country’s opposition leaders on Monday called on the international community to put pressure on Yameen to comply with the court order and “restore democracy” to the troubled honeymoon islands.
On Sunday, the Supreme Court asked Yameen to comply with its order, saying the dissidents must be released because their trials were politically motivated and contained errors.
But the strongman leader remained defiant, suspending parliament, ordering the arrest of two returning opposition defectors and organizing a rally with hundreds of supporters in the capital Male on Sunday.
In a letter addressed to the international community, Maldivian opposition lawmakers appealed for outside support to persuade Yameen to end a tense standoff with the country’s highest court.
“We call on the international community, including India, Sri Lanka, the United States, the United Kingdom and the EU… to do everything in their power to help restore power to the people of the Maldives and restore democracy,” the statement said.
Yameen faces mounting pressure to comply with Thursday’s landmark court ruling, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for “restraint” over the weekend because the crisis escalates.
The United Nations, Australia, Britain, Canada, India and the United States welcomed the court’s decision as a step toward restoring democracy within the troubled Indian Ocean nation.
Yameen has faced previous unsuccessful attempts to be impeached for alleged corruption.
But a court ruling restoring the seats of 12 government MPs who had joined the opposition would effectively reduce Yameen’s party to a minority.
Attorney General Mohamed Anil warned on Sunday that any move to question the president can be “unconstitutional and illegal.”
Two opposition lawmakers who returned to the Maldives after the court ruling were detained by police and appeared in court on Monday.
One was released by the criminal court in Male, the opposite is awaiting trial.
Parliament, which is scheduled to resume on Monday, was suspended indefinitely over the weekend by Yameen, who has deployed troops to occupy the People’s Majlis since March last yr.
Opposition parties rallied in Male’ on Sunday, but there was no repeat of police clashes and tear gas that rocked the capital over the weekend.
The court’s ruling also clears the best way for exiled former Maldivian leader Mohamed Nasheed to run for president after the Supreme Court overturned his terrorism conviction.
Nasheed – who was banned from standing in any elections after his controversial 2015 conviction on terrorism charges – described Yameen’s refusal to obey the Supreme Court as a “coup d’état”.
Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party said the court’s ruling “effectively ends President Yameen’s authoritarian rule.”
Yameen’s crackdown on dissent tarnished the image of the Maldives as an upscale holiday paradise.
Since 2013, when he won a controversial run-off election against Nasheed, he has imprisoned almost the entire political opposition.
