Nazim the Vice Speaker of the Parliament and also the Deputy Leader of one of the most vocal political party PA after repeated attempts by the Police finally got taken into detention at the notorious prison in Dhoonidhoo, the jail for Political Prisoners.
For months; no longer President but Major General Nasheed had the opposition MP’s phones tapped; declaring himself the Head of Military and the Police Force after the Cabinet resigned and are using them to tap people’s phones, arrest politicians, non-supporters, implement curfews everywhere.
Unlike the other two arrested MP’s Gasim and Yamin who also happens to be the leaders of their respective parties JP and PA; Deputy Speaker Nazim refused to surrender without a warrant. Repeated attempts by the Police and the Military to arrest Nazim failed, however since late yesterday, the Police and the Military had his house surrounded with instruments drawn to crush any protest against his arrest and earlier today; finally he got arrested and was taken into custody and transferred to the Dhoonidhoo prison.
The other two arrested MP’s with charges of sedition and corruption brought against them, accused of trying to bring the government of President Nasheed and MDP down and in the process that they got engaged in corruption have their detention prolonged by the Court Officials that are depending on Nasheed for their jobs as their terms nearly having come to an end, they are desperately hoping for the President to nominate their names for the new term.
Nazim’s charges similar in nature to that of those other two MP’s also went a couple of steps further with extra charges brought against him, accusing him of trying to intimidate and threaten top government and ruling party MDP officials and planning to attack government officials with the intention to threaten their lives by causing them grievous bodily harm.
Major General Mohamed Nasheed who famously said in a speech, that it is ok to let people who want to stay drugged, doped, high on abusive drugs, stay that way and we should let them stay in those conditions as it is there choice. He argues that it is there right and we should not interfere with their rights. Over the past two decades Nasheed campaigned for the legalisation of Marijuana in Maldives, and the speech given months before becoming the President many people believe is the reason why he frees so many prisoners, even though some of those he released also were not only criminals involving drug, but also includes many convicted of violent crimes.
The “President” by decree once again, yesterday assembled the Cabinet that resigned and gave them their, jobs back, although since Maldives became an independent nation, under all the old Constitutions and also the current one, while the President of the day can decide on who to appoint as a Minister, no Minister can be given the go ahead without scrutiny and endorsement from the Parliament.
The President at the ceremony held yesterday was faced with so many questions all of which he failed to answer. He declared that he had decided that he does not have to ask the Parliament as a whole for approval but get the approval of the MP’s that represent him and his party and in all his future policies and decisions he will adopt the same method.
The Parliament is stalled and unable to carry out it’s function after repeated attempts by the Speaker to conduct meetings. Each and every session since the Cabinet resigned gets disrupted by the ruling party supporters protests held right outside the Parliament House and the President’s MP’s screams calling for the arrest of all opposition MP’s. The arrest and continued detention of the three main opposition party MP’s mean; the ruling party as one single party is now having the slight majority enjoyed by the opposition and which the President seeked so desperately. His Head of Parliament Group Reeko Moosa and his Head of Presidential Commission created to investigate former government officials on corruption Sarangu Adam Manik; both openly declaring that they bought MP’s, while Nasheed giving a blind eye to what is going on in his government is arresting opposition Leaders and MP’s on corruption charges. They are still not happy and want more opposition MP’s arrested with two other independent MP’s on the verge of arrest, Mutholib MP for South Huvadhoo summoned once, and MP for Kulhudhufushi having his phone tagged is getting hounded by the government officials; the number of arrested MP’s will soon stand at 5.
The Government of MDP and Kenereege Nasheed is the biggest farce that we have every seen in the history of democratic transitions. Within just two years Maldives is a failed state, run by a self professed, declared Military Dictator, with all separation of powers claimed so soon, so fast…
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