President Waheed visits Addu City

In his first tour out of Malé after assuming office on the 7th of this month, President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has today visited Addu City.

The President arrived in Addu City this morning, at the Maldivian Flight around 8:45 am. He was welcomed there by a large crowd of civil servants and senior officials of government offices and public members. The President shook hands with the people gathered and talked to them, before he headed towards Hulhumeedhoo.

At Hulhumeedhoo, the President was warmly welcomed. He addressed the people at the Atoll Education Centre at Hulhumeedhoo.

The President's visited to Addu City has come a couple of days after former President Mohamed Nasheed, and his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leaders warned him not to set foot there. Members of Addu City Council, all of whom wear MDP tags, did not appear to welcome the President. A small group of MDP supporters, numbering approximately 30, were there at Hulhumeedhoo Atoll Education Centre to protest against the President’s visit to Addu City.

PRESIDENT SAYS WILL UPHOLD RULE OF LAW

President said in his speech at Hulhumeedhoo Atoll Education Centre, that he would do all it takes to uphold the rule of law and establish justice in the country.

The President promised that he “would not interfere in the functioning of the judiciary, and fully respect the independence assured to the Judiciary by the Constitution.

The President also said that his main priority would be to establish and sustain order and peace in the Maldives, and that he would not favor any particular political party or segment of the society. “I would try my best to take this nation, the whole nation, without favoritism towards any particular political segment, to a destination of happiness, peace, development and prosperity”, said the President.

Referring to the acts of arson and destruction perpetrated by supporters of former President Nasheed at Addu City on the 8th of this month, the President said that they were distressing acts, and that “those who committed those acts of wholly unacceptable violence would be brought to justice”.

ADDU CITY COUNCIL STATEMENT

Addu City Council had issued a Statement yesterday, saying that the Government of Dr. Waheed is an illegal one, and calling for the restoration of Nasheed’s government.

According to the Statement, Dr. Waheed appropriated power through a rebellion with the help of “few in the security services”. The Statement also said that Waheed’s “illegal government is oppressive of the people”.

Former President Nasheed was forced to resign on the 7th of this month after prolonged discontentment and protests against his policies and actions by the people. Nasheed famously said, while addressing a crowd in a northern island of the Maldives, that “if anyone other than a member of my own party comes to me asking for something, he would see how horrible and nasty I am”.

Nasheed’s administration employed party activists, who were rarely qualified, as directors of public corporations, political appointees with no responsibilities, and so on, with fat salaries, thereby driving the nation literally into insolvency, as found out recently from the many reports of the independent Auditor General.

Nasheed’s Administration illegally locked the Supreme Court, challenged court orders repeatedly, controlled the state media against a statute and a court order, and finally abducted a Judge who refused to let a political opponent to be taken into custody. Following the enforced disappearance of the Judge, against the nation’s Constitution and international human rights laws, Nasheed challenged Supreme Court and High Court orders to release the Judge immediately, and protests against Nasheed’s unconstitutional and unlawful acts gained further impetus, culminating in the events of 7th February.

On that day, the Maldives Police Service, and the Maldives National Defence Forces, finally said that they would not carry out Nasheed Administration’s illegal orders anymore, and demanded a guarantee that no such orders would be issued in the future. Instead of guaranteeing that, Nasheed opted to resign, realizing that he had lost support of the majority of the people and the security forces.

One day after, Nasheed claimed that he was “forced to resign at gunpoint”, and his supporters, especially in Addu City and G.Dh. Thinadhoo, went on rampaging judiciary and police infrastructure there, burning police stations and courthouses. According to video footages and many witnesses, Addu City Council members, all of whom belong to Nasheed’s Party, were key figures who participated in and steered the run of vandalism.