No country will act as mediator in party talks: President

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has said that there are no plans for any country to act as a mediator in the discussions to be held between the political parties, on the action to be taken after the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) publishes its report.

“I believe we can solve this issue on our own,” the President said in response to a question posed by Sun Online.

India played the role of a mediator in the discussions held to resolve the issues which arose after 7 February, by providing a mediation expert to assist the party-talks moderator Ahmed Mujtaba.

Prior to his departure to Sri Lanka, President Dr Waheed said that Sri Lanka had expressed interest to act as a mediator to ease the political tension currently faced by the Maldives.

President Dr Waheed said that discussions were held with Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa in this regard, and that Sri Lanka is prepared to assist Maldives in its efforts to resolve its current political challenges.

“We will first find out the views of political parties, before requesting Sri Lanka to act as a mediator,” he said.

Highlighting that the new government of Maldives has been recognised by the international community, President Dr Waheed said that the legitimacy of the new government is no longer questioned by foreign governments.

The CNI will present its report to the President on 29 August, and publicise it on 30 August.

The President was hopeful that the party-talks can be held on 27 and 28 August, prior to CNI publicising its report. These discussions will be attended by the Leaders or Deputy Leaders of political parties.

The discussions will be chaired by party-talks moderator Ahmed Mujtaba.