Nasheed calls for fresh polls, UN special envoy arrives in Male
A UN special envoy arrived Friday for talks with the new administration in the Maldives, as former president Mohamed Nasheed called for fresh elections after being ousted in what he called a coup d'etat, AFP reported.
Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco reached the capital Male early Friday and was due to hold talks with new president Mohamed Waheed.
“There will be a meeting with the UN delegation in the morning,” presidential spokesman Masood Imad said.
The UN envoy had been invited by Nasheed when he was still president to help end a standoff with opposition parties over the arrest and detention of a senior judge.
Three weeks of opposition-led protests were capped by a police mutiny that led to Nasheed's dramatic resignation on Tuesday.
Violence gripped the holiday paradise archipelago a day later when Nasheed said he had been forced to step down by a conspiracy hatched with Waheed's knowledge.
Nasheed, who became the Maldives' first democratically elected president in 2008, told a meeting of his senior party workers on Thursday night that Waheed should resign.
“He must step down and then the speaker of the majlis (parliament) can hold elections within two months,” he told thousands of supporters who later dispersed peacefully.
The UN envoy made it clear that he was not there to dictate how the political upheaval of recent days should be resolved.
“There can be no externally generated solution to something that can be solved by Maldivians themselves,” Fernandez-Taranco said, adding that the UN was concerned for Nasheed's safety.
“I would personally urge all actors to end the resorting to violence,” he told reporters at the airport.
Diplomatic sources said the new government was under international and regional pressure not to risk another wave of unrest by carrying out a warrant for Nasheed's arrest.
Friday is a public holiday in the Islamic state of 330,000 Sunni Muslims and most shops and offices remained closed with no overnight reports of fresh clashes.
Caption - Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed (C) greets people after friday prayers in Male on February 10, 2012. .AFP PHOTO
"Country will go the dogs" - Nasheed
During a meeting with media personnel at his home in Male the ousted Maldivian President said he will not consider leaving the country and would fight for a return to power, the BBC reported.
Further a video clip on the BBC website captures President Nasheed commenting that should he leave the "country would go to the dogs" and he was aware that an arrest warrent had been issued.
Meanwhile former President Nasheed's wife and children arrived in Sri Lanka today (Feb 9), officials confirmed .
' first democratically elected president in 2008, signalled that he intended to continue fighting, telling a meeting of his senior party workers that Waheed should resign.
"He must step down and then the speaker of the majlis (parliament) can hold elections within two months," he told thousands of cheering supporters late Thursday who then dispersed peacefully.
Nasheed, a former pro-democracy activist and famed climate change activist, has accused of Waheed of being party to the conspiracy to overthrow him.
A local criminal court issued a warrant for Nasheed's arrest on Thursday, but following external pressure from foreign diplomatic missions Nasheed escaped detention.
Police spokesman Abdul Mannan Yusuf told AFP that the force would be "tactical" about when they would use the warrant. "We can arrest him when we feel the need for it," he said.
Violence gripped the holiday paradise archipelago on Wednesday and Thursday, with demonstrators overrunning at least 18 police stations on outlying islands and torching government buildings.
Friday is a public holiday in the Islamic state of 330,000 Sunni Muslims and most shops and offices remained closed with no overnight reports of fresh clashes.
The UN's Fernandez-Taranco had been invited by Nasheed when he was still in power to help end a standoff with opposition parties over the arrest and detention of a senior judge.
The envoy made it clear that he was not there to dictate how the political upheaval of recent days should be resolved. "There can be no externally generated solution to something that can be solved by Maldivians themselves," Fernandez-Taranco said, adding that the UN was concerned for Nasheed's safety.
Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco reached the capital Male early Friday (Feb 10) and was to hold talks with new president Mohamed Waheed, who has won crucial backing from the United States.
Three weeks of opposition-led protests were capped on Tuesday by a police mutiny that led to Nasheed's dramatic resignation, which he said was "forced" when armed rebel officers threatened him with violence unless he stepped down.
Waheed promised in a new statement that his "key priorities included the restoration of public confidence in democratic institutions by upholding the rule of law and uncompromising adherence to the constitution".
The legitimacy of the new administration hinges on whether Nasheed is seen as having resigned of his own will or having been ousted by force.
When asked on Thursday whether Washington recognised the new government of the Indian Ocean island nation, which has been wracked by violence, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland replied: "We do."Nasheed, who became the
A UN special envoy arrived Friday for talks with the new administration in the Maldives, as former president Mohamed Nasheed demanded fresh elections after being ousted in what he called a coup d'etat, AFP reported
