Yahoo – AFP,
Mohamed Visham, 4 Nov 2015
Maldives
police patrol the streets of the capital Male on October 24,
2015 (AFP
Photo/Haveeru)
|
Maldives
President Abdulla Yameen Wednesday invoked draconian emergency laws for the
first time in 11 years, heightening a crackdown on dissent after alleged
attempts on his life.
Foreign
Minister Dunya Maumoon said the declaration of a state of emergency meant that
a rally planned by the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) for
Friday was unlikely to be allowed.
"Obviously
there is every likelihood that it might not go ahead given the situation,"
Maumoon told AFP by telephone. "Because of the security (in the congested
capital island Male)."
The
Maldives is a tropical nation made
up of 26 coral atolls (AFP Photo)
|
However,
Maumoon, who is the niece of Yameen and the daughter of former president
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said the emergency, which gives security forces and
police sweeping powers to arrest suspects, was a "precautionary
action."
It was
necessary because of threats to the president's life, she said, denying that
the move was to suppress Friday's planned protest by the opposition.
"President
Yameen has declared state of emergency to ensure the safety and security of
every citizen," his spokesman Muaz Ali tweeted.
The last
time the Maldives imposed a state of emergency was in August 2004 under
president Gayoom, the half brother of Yameen, to crack down on pro-democracy
protests by the MDP.
Official
sources said the latest declaration, initially for a period of 30 days, would
lead to the automatic suspension of several constitutional provisions including
the right of association and the right of assembly.
Tensions
are high in the honeymoon island nation following an explosion aboard the
president's speedboat on September 28 and this week's alleged discovery of a
remote-controlled bomb near his official residence.
Yameen was
unharmed in the boat explosion, although his wife and two others were slightly
injured, and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has said there was no
evidence it was caused by a bomb.
But
authorities in the Maldives have called it an attempt on his life. On October
24 Yameen arrested his deputy Ahmed Adeeb, accusing him of "high
treason" and linking him to the blast.
Maldives
President Abdulla Yameen declared
a state of emergency to to "ensure the
safety and security of every citizen", his
spokesman said (AFP Photo)
|
Several
ministers, a police chief and key security personnel have also been sacked
following the explosion.
The MDP
said the emergency order was aimed at cracking down on anti-government
activists.
"The
discovery of a 'bomb' (on Monday) was the lead up to today's emergency,"
MDP spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor told AFP.
"Yameen
has jailed or threatened every opposition leader, placed criminal charges
against 1,700 opposition activists, and is now turning on his own by jailing
the vice president.
"For
the good of the nation, it is time for Yameen to resign."
Travel
warning
Yameen
faces international censure over his jailing of MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed, the
country's first democratically elected leader who was forced to step down in
February 2012 following a police mutiny.
Colombo-based
Western diplomats, who are also accredited to the Maldives, had decided to tell
their nationals to exercise caution when visiting the capital island Male, a
diplomatic source in Colombo said.
Australia had already asked its citizens to exercise "a high degree" of caution when travelling to Male, warning of the possibility of terror attacks.
Dunya said the government assured the safety of tourists, a key source of revenue for the Indian Ocean atoll nation.
Australia had already asked its citizens to exercise "a high degree" of caution when travelling to Male, warning of the possibility of terror attacks.
Every year
more than one million tourists visit the Maldives, a nation of 1,192 small
coral islands dotted around the equator (AFP Photo/Lakruwan Wanniarachchi)
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Dunya said the government assured the safety of tourists, a key source of revenue for the Indian Ocean atoll nation.
Despite the
political unrest, tourism -- the archipelago's mainstay -- is booming with more
than one million visitors a year.
Holidaymakers
who pay top dollar to relax on one of the atolls are usually whisked away by
seaplane or boat, bypassing the restive capital Male where extra police have
been deployed in recent months.
US
Secretary of State John Kerry spoke in May of "troubling signs" for
democracy in the Maldives, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this year
shelved plans to visit the islands, a move seen as a rebuke to Yameen.
Maldives declares state of emergency https://t.co/mamFQ9igM2 pic.twitter.com/2gnPnLiTBh
— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) November 4, 2015
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