President does not have the authority to hand over responsibilities of the Parliament to the Police: Thasmeen

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has said that the President does not have the authority to hand over the work and responsibility of the Parliament to the Maldives Police Service to make regulations for the media and to limit freedom of expression.

In view of the recent audio of President Mohamed Nasheed calling the Police to control the media outlets who are covering the anti-government street protests by making regulations on limiting the information disseminated to the public, Thasmeen said that this is not the responsibility of the Police.

“If President Nasheed wants to suppress the media, he can only do it via the Parliament. The Police cannot do anything in that regard,” he said.

He said that the responsibility of the Police is to maintain law and order in the society. He added that the Police cannot regulate limits to the freedom of expression.

In the leaked audio which was aired by VTV, a top official of Maldives Police Service is heard speaking to the President saying that some of the media coverage of the ongoing civic protests has sparked differences within the ranks of the Police officers. He tells the President that it is imperative to bring these media outlets under control.  The President says that the media should have the freedom to disseminate news to the public but the media should be kept within bounds and freedom of expression should be within limits.