New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs welcomed Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen lifting the state of Emergency after 45 days but also reiterated that the island nation must implement the Maldivian Supreme Court’s February 1 order.
On February 1, the Maldivian apex court had overturned the convictions of political prisoners, including that of its exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed.
The emergency was lifted a day after senior political opponents were locked up indefinitely for allegedly trying to topple him last month.
“We call upon the Government of the Maldives to restore all Articles of the Constitution, to allow the Supreme Court and other branches of the judiciary to operate in full independence, to promote and support the free and proper functioning of Parliament, to implement the Supreme Court's Full Bench order of 1 February 2018 and to support a genuine political dialogue with all opposition parties,” the MEA statement on Thursday said.
This is not the first time that the MEA has asked the Maldives to implement the February 1 order. When Yameen had imposed the Emergency and later when he extended it, MEA had voiced its concerns over the non-implementation of the order.
This time around too, it further said that it was important for the Maldivian government to ensure “credible restoration of the political process, as well as the rule of law, before the elections are announced this year.” Maldives goes to polls in September.
At a press conference held in Male earlier this month, Mohammed Shainee, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture and also chairperson of the all-party talks committee had said that India must stay away from the political crisis as it was as an ‘internal matter’. He further said that Maldives didn’t intervene in the Kashmir matter for the same reason.
India has been particularly concerned about developments in Maldives because China is looking to occupy India's place in being the primary player and associate of the tiny island nation. India had three decades ago militarily intervened and ended a coup restoring democracy in the country.
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