A political crisis in the Maldives intensified on after President

Abdulla Yameen Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom (; born 21 May 1959) is a Maldivian politician who served as president of the Maldives from 2013 to 2018. Yameen was elected president in the 2013 presidential election as the candidate of the Progressive Party (P ...

decided to disobey the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

order to release 9 political prisoners and reinstating 12 parliament members which will give the opposition ( MDP) control of the chamber and potentially paving the way for Yameen's impeachment. On 5 February 2018 president

declared a state of emergency and ordered the arrest of two judges of the Supreme Court of the

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

, including

Chief Justice of the Maldives The chief justice of the Maldives is the most influential member of the judicial branch of the Maldives. He is appointed by the president of the Maldives. He is a member of parliamentary committee and one member of the five Supreme Court justices ...

Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed Mohamed and former President ''(also his half-brother)''

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ( ; born Abdulla Maumoon Khairi; 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician, statesman, diplomat and scholar who served as the 3rd president of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. He previously served as the Minister of Tra ...

Events

February 1, 2018

After a few hours after the

released the court order on its website. The state-owned TV channel

Television Maldives Television Maldives (TVM) is the public service broadcasting TV channel of the Maldives. It was formed on 29 March 1978. History The station started broadcasting on 29 March 1978 to a very limited audience, 90 television sets around the capita ...

and Channel 13 owned by president

went to discredit the order by saying the

website was hacked. The

immediately responded by tweeting the website is not hacked.

Maldivian Democratic Party The Maldivian Democratic Party (, ''Dhivehi Rayyithunge Demokretik Paati''; MDP) is the first political party formed in the Republic of Maldives. The party is supportive of the promotion of human rights and democracy in the Maldives. It won ...

was already holding a small peaceful gathering in front of their campaign headquarters who heard the news and many broke into tears including some Parliament members. They announced a gathering to be held on February 2, 2018, that night at 2:00 a.m.

Cabinet ministers A cabinet in governing is a group of people with the constitutional or legal task to rule a country or state, or advise a head of state, usually from the executive branch. Their members are known as ministers and secretaries and they are ...

question authenticity of the court order and said that they have not been able to be in contact with the

and they are trying to get direct communication with the justices. President

fired the

Commissioner of Police A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Ahmed Areef and replaced by Ahmed Saudhee, claiming that Areef was not attending his phone calls. Ahmed Saudhee also fired back by saying that he was trying to follow the court orders and president Yameen did not allow him to do his job. The opposition held a peaceful rally 2 a.m midnight to celebrate the court ruling.

Maldives Police Service The Maldives Police Service () is the civilian national police force of the Republic of Maldives. It is responsible for enforcing criminal and traffic law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout Maldives. T ...

an hour after the rally started used

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...

and

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

to disperse the crowd and leaving many affected.

February 3, 2018

The opening of

People's Majlis The People's Majlis () is the unicameral legislative body of Maldives. It has the authority to enact, amend and revise laws, as outlined in the Constitution of the Maldives. It is composed of 93 members as of 2024. Each year on the first Mon ...

was cancelled for security reasons and was being rescheduled as soon as it was possible. President

fires Acting-Commissioner of Police Ahmed Saudhee, and gave no clear reason why he fired Saudhee. President's Office's staff released a small statement only saying: President

hold a rally and officially announce his re-election and say he was not expecting the

ruling, the state and all relevant authorities have to do a lot of work to see how to implement it. Special Operations Police were posted outside the Chief Justice, Abdulla Saeed's house. Upon hearing rumours he was about to be arrested the public gathered and had clashes with Special Operations Police the people who gathered were backed off successfully and Special Operations Police

released the statement they were not going to be arresting Justice Abdulla Saeed.

February 4, 2018

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

alongside acting-police commissioner Abdulla Nawaz and Chief of Defence Force Ahmed Shiyam holds press conference saying they will not obey any order to

impeach Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Euro ...

President

. Secretary General of the Parliament Ahmed Mohamed resigns citing “personal reasons.” Opposition lawmakers submit

no-confidence motion A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

against Prosecutor General, Aishath Bisham,

, Mohamed Anil,

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

, Azleen Ahmed, and

Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

, Adam Shareef for their refusal to comply with the Supreme Court order.

February 5, 2018

Criminal Court orders the immediate release of Faris Maumoon from detention. President

declares a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

for 15 days, suspension of 20 constitutional rights, and the Criminal Procedures Act and parts of the Judges Act. Maldivian military forces gather around the

and try to break into the court by forcing the gate open. Former president

and his son-in-law Mohamed Nadheem got arrest on charges of trying to overthrow the government

February 6, 2018

After multiple attempts to break into the

special operations climbed up the roof of the High Court (same building) and broke the windows of the Supreme Court and forced Justice Ali Hameed and dragged Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed on the floor out of the Supreme Court. Former president

Mohamed Nasheed Mohamed Nasheed (; born 17 May 1967), also known as Anni (), is a Maldivians, Maldivian politician and activist who served as president of the Maldives from 2008 until his resignation in 2012. A founding member of the Maldivian Democratic Part ...

requests India's intervention. State of emergency amended to suspend more legal rights, including the right to remain silent and be brought before a judge within 24 hours. Ibrahim Siyad Qasim, son of

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

Qasim Ibrahim Qasim Ibrahim (born 30 August 1951), also known as Burumaa Qasim, is a Maldives, Maldivian politician, business magnate and Philanthropy, philanthropist. As the chairman and founder of the Villa Group, he is one of the country's wealthiest bus ...

arrested.

Response

Former President

, currently in exile in the UK, called for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to send a military-backed diplomatic mission to compel the release of political detainees, and for the US and UK to freeze the financial transaction of Maldivian

government officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...

. The

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

stated that they regard the situation as "disturbing". ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' reported that the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

were on standby for "deployment at short notice" on potential operations in

, ranging from the evacuation of nationals to a military intervention akin to that in the 1988 Operation Cactus.

References

{{Reflist 2018 in the Maldives