Legal action will be taken against errant protesters :President

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

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President Mohamed Nasheed has warned that legal action will be taken against protesters who break security and damage properties. In his Friday radio address today, the President expressing concern about the current opposition protests which he said is organised by some people for political motives. These protests which have caused difficulties to the people and damage to Government properties have reached dangerous proportions, the President who is under pressure from the opposition parties to resign for violation of the Constitution said.

The President said he condemns these protests in most strict words and vowed that legal action will be taken on such protesters. This is necessary to restore law and order in Male’, he said. The President mentioned that no one will want Male’ to become a dangerous place.

President Nasheed went back to 11 November 2008 when he said a people’s government began to establish after a period when rights of people were deprived and rulers worked for their self interest. But now we are in the process of establishing people’s own liberal democratic rule. In our new democratic system, the three powers of the State are separated and independent. The government is elected by a direct vote of the people.

He went on to say the judiciary is however, still not representative of the people. It remains same as before, in the same shape. No right thinking Maldivian will object to this, he remarked. Although the three powers are separated, one of the powers is still handicapped, it is under the power and influence of few persons. There is no doubt that the power of judiciary is too important national issue that the Chief Executive of the country can ignore without taking action to reform it. Now that we have started taking such action, the security of the government is at stake because of the conspiracy of some people. The good name of the country is tarnished. The hidden reason is that few people who have been denied of the power of the country is behind this conspiracy. the president elaborated.

President Nasheed in continuing his address remarked that the opposition is incapable of working in a competitive political environment. It is difficult to run a democratic system under such circumstances. Against the accusations of the opposition, the government will do anything against the law and will not deprive the people of their rights, he said.

While the President has said so, opposition parties, lawyers an independent institutions have strongly condemned him and his government for violating the Constitution, disobeying the order of the Supreme Court on the arrest of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed by the Defence Force on 16 January. In spite of their repeated demands for the release of the judge,

he has not been released. UN and International Commission of Jurists have also joined the calls for the immediate release of the judge.

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