New Maldives president denies plot to oust Mohamed Nasheed

Former vice-president Mohammed Waheed Hassan calls for national unity government as police keep watch on predecessor
  • The Guardian,
Mohammed Waheed Hassan
The new Maldives president, Mohammed Waheed Hassan. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

The new president of the Maldives has called for the formation of a national unity government as police and soldiers keep watch over his predecessor at an undisclosed location.

Mohammed Waheed Hassan, the former vice-president, was sworn in on Tuesday when Mohamed Nasheed resigned after police joined widening street protests against his government.

Addressing a news conference on Wednesday, Hassan denied claims he was behind a plot to oust Nasheed. He said he had not prepared to take over the country and he called for the creation of a unity coalition.



Police are investigating the discovery of at least 100 bottles of alcohol inside a truck removing rubbish from the presidential residence on Tuesday as Nasheed prepared to relinquish power, said a police spokesman, Ahmed Shyam. Consuming alcohol outside tourist resorts is a crime in the Muslim country. If charged and convicted of possession of alcohol, Nasheed could be sent to jail for three years, banished to a distant island, placed under house arrest or fined.


"Mr Nasheed is protected by the current government because there might be some people wanting to harm him," Shyam said. "He's in a safe place now, but any other action will be decided by the government."

Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director, Sam Zarifi, called on the new government not to seek retribution against Nasheed and said "his exact whereabouts must be clarified immediately".

Nasheed, the country's first democratically elected president, presented his resignation in a nationally televised address after police joined demonstrators protesting against his decision to arrest a top judge and then clashed with soldiers in the streets. Some of the soldiers then defected to the police side.

Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic party insisted his departure was a "coup" engineered by rogue elements of the police and supporters of the country's former autocratic leader. Others blamed Islamic extremists.

Hassan's office denied the military had pressured Nasheed to quit, and an adviser to the former president said he had not resigned under duress, but to prevent further violence in the street.

Hassan sought to calm fears that Islamists were gaining power in the country.

"They are part of the society; you can't ignore them," he said. "But there is a wide range of people with different views, philosophies and ideas about politics. I am planning to create a plural multi-party government."


The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said in a statement he hoped Nasheed's resignation would lead to a peaceful resolution of the political crisis. He called on all Maldivians to cement the nation's democratic gains.

The UN assistant secretary general, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, is scheduled to lead a UN team to the country later this week to help the Maldives resolve its political tensions.

Nasheed's resignation marked a stunning fall for the former human rights campaigner who defeated the nation's longtime ruler, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in the country's its first multi-party elections. Nasheed was also an environmental celebrity calling for global action to combat climate change that could raise sea levels and inundate his archipelago nation.

In a phone call with US officials, Hassan expressed his strong commitment to a peaceful transition of power and the preservation of democracy.

Hassan Saeed, a former attorney general and Nasheed ally, said he hoped Nasheed's resignation would end the political bickering that had become a hallmark since the country became a multi-party democracy in 2008.


Over the past year, Nasheed has been battered by protests over soaring prices and demands for more religiously conservative policies.

Today's best video

Today in pictures