Opposition calls on Defence Force to pledge allegiance to Vice President and save country

Opposition PPM Deputy Leader Umar Naseer has called on the Maldivian Defence Force to stop obeying President Mohamed Nasheed's unconstitutional orders and give their allegiance to Vice President Mohamed Dr Waheed Hassan Maniku tonight itself and save the country from the brink of economic and political disaster. Umar was speaking in a DhiTV interview as part of the ongoing opposition protest against President Nasheed's Government.

The PPM leader said this is the time for the Defence Force to stand and save the country, and only they can do so before the country plunges into disaster. The Constitution has entrusted the Defence Force to protect the country and the Constitution, the Constitution has stated that the Security or any one should not obey unconstitutional orders, Umar said.

The judiciary is being destroyed, Supreme Court has been locked, judges are arrested, the whole democratic system is about to collapse, the country is facing a major disaster, we cannot afford such a disaster to befall the country, we must save the country from the Nasheed dictatorship, the Defence Force and Police must be fearless and courageous to take action and put an end to the unconstitutional rule of Nasheed. And that can be done only by the courage and loyalty of the forces by rejecting Nasheed and accepting the Vice President. The Vice President is constitutionally elected by the people. President Nasheed is as he has said earlier out of the chart, but the Vice President is inside the chart. So as the Constitution states, Vice President must take over now, the Defence Force must support him and save the country before it is too late, the PPM leader strongly appealed the Defence Force and Police the PPM Deputy continued.

Umar said this is the time for all Maldivians to stand together for the sake of the country, MDP members also must act now, we will not leave them, and they will  be in the new Government of Dr. Waheed. When asked if the opposition had any discussions with the Vice President, Umar replied there was no such discussion held but the Vice President was  asked if he would remain in office without resigning, and his reply was in the affirmative. This reply was needed  because of growing pressure from MDP for the Vice President to resign.

Speaking about the reaction of the international community, Umar said they made a visit to Colombo recently and met several ambassadors, and their opinion is that Nasheed has violated the Constitution and support  impeaching him.

He expressed grave concern about the withdrawal of security at the Supreme Court and locking the Court.  There was was concern about  the ruling MDP submitting a bill to the Majlis to amend the Law on Judges in a bid to  reduce the 7 judges of Supreme Court to 5, and 9 judges of the High Court to 7. Opposition parties says the Government is doing this  to further threaten the judges and influence the courts.

The current political upheaval was prompted by the the arrest of the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed three weeks ago without a warrant. On the same day the Supreme Court issued an order to release him immediately. Prominent lawyers, independent institutions, opposition parties have strongly condemned the arrest and called for the release. The UN and International Commission of Jurists have also joined these calls. Opposition protests are continuing every night since the arrest calling for the release of the judge and demanding the President to resign for violating the Constitution. They say Nasheed does not have any legal capacity to remain in office any longer.

But the judge has not been released so far and the President says the judicial system is incapable of regulating itself and accuses the judge of political bias.