Nasheed's party collecting evidence of coup

Male: Ahead of a visit of the Commonwealth ministerial mission, the Maldivian Democratic Party of former President Mohamad Nasheed is gathering all evidence including photos and video to prove a “coup” took place. A Commonwealth delegation is scheduled to come tomorrow to “ascertain the facts surrounding the transfer of power” here in the city that had witnessed large scale violence last week after Nasheed resigned. Sources in the party also released a video alleging that a gun was also used when police stormed the office of the MNBC, state TV. The video shows police personnel using tear gas shells and unlocking the main gates of the building. [caption id=“attachment_212042” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Ahead of a visit of the Commonwealth ministerial mission, the Maldivian Democratic Party of former President Mohamad Nasheed is gathering all evidence including photos and video to prove a “coup” took place. PTI”]  [/caption] MDP claims that they had laid siege hours before Nasheed resigned. However, at a closer look at the video and pictures, the weapon that was fired once seems to be a tear gas gun given that the barrel looked bigger. However, MDP insists Maldivian Police are not authorised to fire tear gas from guns and are only allowed to throw them. Meanwhile, Maldives new government today welcomed a Commonwealth ministerial mission to “ascertain the facts surrounding the transfer of power.” “We welcome the decision. We are completly transparent. We have already said that we would welcome any independent probe into the turn of events,” Masood Imad, Press Secretary to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan told PTI. He said he would welcome a probe by India also but he feels that New Delhi understands how the events turned here. “We don’t want to jeopardise any probe. When the President stepped down, under the constitution, the Vice President steps up,” he said. Imad asserted that there was no coup. “The Vice President was not an outsider. We were not political opponents”. The nine-member Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which deals with serious violations of the 54-nation bloc’s political values, decided on the mission after an emergency telephone conference on Sunday. The Commonwealth Secretariat said the action would would “ascertain the facts surrounding the transfer of power, and to promote adherence to Commonwealth values and principles”. PTI