I was not behind the change of Maldivian Government: Maumoon

Former President Maumoon Abdul Qayyoom has denied allegations by his successor Mohamed Nasheed that he was behind a “revolution that toppled” Nasheed’s government.

Maumoon issued a personal Statement today, in response to Nasheed’s claim in interviews to some Television Channels operating in the United States during his visit to the country that his Government was overthrown in a coup d’état. The Statement said that Nasheed’s continued accusations that Maumoon was responsible for “the coup d’état” was an “in complete disregard of the truth”.

“In his interviews to some TV channels and the media, former President Nasheed has claimed, while speaking on the change of Government that took place in the Maldives on the 7th of last February, that what occurred in the Maldives was a coup d’état, and he has also claimed that I was the one who was responsible for that, or the one who planned it. I hereby state categorically, that this claim is in complete disregard of the truth of the matter”, read the Statement.

Maumoon’s Statement said that Nasheed resigned from Presidency on his own choice, while in perfect health condition, and that Nasheed himself wrote the letter of resignation as stipulated in Article 121 (d) of the Maldivian Constitution.

The Statement also said that then Deputy President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn in as new President as stipulated in Article 126 of the Constitution, by the Chief Justice of the Country and that therefore, “there is no way in which the claim that a coup d’état occurred in the Maldives on the 7th of last February can be valid and good”.

Maumoon’s Statement said that he was the first one to congratulate Mohamed Nasheed on his election to Presidency, at the President’s Office and in the presence of the media, and that Maumoon had done everything to ensure a smooth transfer of power to Nasheed, sincerely for the benefit of the nation and her people. However, Nasheed and his government, after they assumed power in November 2008, had continuously perpetrated acts of physical and psychological harassment against Maumoon and his family, according to the Statement. The Statement also said that despite repeated acts of such harassment, Maumoon had not taken any retributive measures, and never planned the downfall of Nasheed.

The Statement said that Maumoon’s Progressive Party of the Maldives participated with civil NGOs in protest of Nasheed Administration’s actions in violation of the national Constitution and with the view to alienate the Maldivians from Islam, and that this was done in order to hold the Government responsible and accountable for its actions and policies. The Statement said that such protests conducted in using the freedom of expression is a legal and democratic right enjoyed by every people, in order to hold their governments responsible. The Statement said that such protests could not be regarded as illegal efforts to topple a government.