Roadmap meeting called off as MDP fails to attend

The first ‘Roadmap’ meeting was called off Monday evening as the former ruling party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) failed to attend the meeting.

Although MDP did not turn up for the meeting, eight political parties attended the meeting at 20:30 hrs last evening at Nasandhura Palace Hotel. Hinnavaru MP Ibrahim Mohamed Salih was expected to attend the meeting as the representative of MDP.

Protestors of MDP at the Tsunami monument area said that the party did not attend the Roadmap meeting because the government did not yield to the demands of MDP.

Roadmap coordinator Ahmed Mujtaba informed the media that if MDP being a party with a large number of members fails to attend the meeting, then discussions cannot be held. He said that he still hopes that the MDP would engage in future consultative and consensus building dialogues aimed at achieving the loadable objectives of the visionary Roadmap. 

Meanwhile, the government came up with the Roadmap as a means to end the current political turbulence in the country through mutual discussions.

In the roadmap titled 'Maldives Elements of a Possible Way Forward', the government said under the head 'Immediate Action' that all sides will ensure that a period of calm can prevail, to ensure space for further discussions among the relevant parties. 

It said all leaders will call upon their followers to pursue political aims exclusively through dialogue and peaceful aims. 

It said that while the right to peaceful assembly will be respected, there will be no incitement to violence against people and property. 

"The government and relevant agencies will ensure that the police and security services will exercise restraint and not resort to excessive measures, putting at risk the lives and well being of members of the public, including peaceful demonstrators," it said. 

The roadmap also talked about steps to be taken to ensure due process for anyone detained and full access to their families and lawyers and that no one shall be detained through extra legal processes and for political reasons.