Four senior military officers present a document of concerns to the Chief of Defence Force

Four senior officers of the Maldives military, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has presented a document to the Chief of Defence Force Major General Ahmed Shiyam, highlighting concerns surrounding the country’s current situation following the first round of the presidential elections.

MNDF spokesperson, also one of the signatories of the document, Colonel Abdul Raheem said that the document was signed by one General and three Colonels.

Colonel Abdul Raheem said that, in a meeting with the Chief of Defence Force last week, senior officers had highlighted the concerns raised from within the different ranks of the force.

“[The document] contains our concerns regarding the recent developments in the country. It was a scheduled meeting where the functioning of MNDF also discussed,” Colonel Abdul Raheem said.

He said that officer's concerns are always communicated to the Chief, or Vice Chief, and stressed that it was normal procedure.

In developments following the September 7th presidential election and a Supreme Court injunction to delay the second round of poll until they reach a verdict, former president and MDP presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed on Sunday called on supporters to cease hope for a favourable Supreme Court verdict and move for a change of government.

Former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed also published a tweet on Friday calling the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) to suspend the Maldives from the Commonwealth and to request India to invoke Responsibility to Protect (R2P) on the Maldives, urging military intervention.

A United Nations initiative established in 2005, R2P, or Responsibility to Protect, is based on the claim that sovereignty is not a right but a responsibility, and focuses on preventing and halting four crimes, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. It states that the international community has the responsibility to intervene through coercive measures such as economic sanctions. Military intervention, it states, is considered the last resort.