The island nation of Maldives has into a political turmoil since a Supreme Court ruling ordered the release of politicians who have been jailed but the Attorney General has refused to enforce the order.
Security personnel wearing riot gear have surrounded the country’s parliament in the capital of Male and taken into custody two opposition MPs. The 85-seat House chamber is led by the opposition, the court decision also ordered for the reinstatement of 12 members earlier stripped of their seats last year.
Hours after the Attorney General Mohamed Anil accused the Supreme Court of trying to remove President Abdulla Yameen through impeachment proceedings, a petition was tabled before the parliament’s secretariat to remove the top law enforcer for the government from his position.
In a televised addressed, franked by the police and army chiefs, the Attorney General issued a public statement ”I have informed all law enforcement agencies they must not obey such an illegal order”. The army boss has directed the security apparatus under his command to heed to the AG’s advice, saying he ”will not wait and watch as the Maldives goes into crisis”.
Ahmed Mohamed, the head of the Parliament’s Secretariat has resigned without explanation further the rationale behind his decision.
Among those whose convictions were overturned by the Maldives highest court is former President Mohamed Nasheed, now living in exile. He is calling for a nationwide protest and beckoning to members of the security forces to arrest Anil alongside the heads of the police force and the army.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
