MEA urges Maldives govt to implement SC order, abstain from extending emergency

New Delhi: Even as the Maldives’ parliamentary committee on national security passed a resolution on Monday to extend the ongoing state of emergency by an additional 15 days, India on Tuesday said that it expected that the emergency in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation will not be extended. [caption id=“attachment_4359931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Maldives President Yameen Abdul Gayoom. AP[/caption] Maldives President Abdulla Yameen earlier on Monday requested the Parliament to extend the emergency, which was first declared on 5 February for 15 days. “The state of emergency declared in the Maldives on 5 February, 2018, comes to an end this evening,” the Indian external affairs ministry said in a statement. “It is our expectation that the government of Maldives will not be seeking an extension of the state of emergency so that the political process in the Maldives can resume with immediate effect,” it stated. Stating that after the revocation of the emergency, democratic institutions including the judiciary should be allowed to function independently and in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with the Constitution, it said the order issued by the Supreme Court of Maldives on 1 February should be implemented in letter and spirit. “It is important that the Maldives quickly returns to the path of democracy and the rule of law so that the aspirations of Maldivian people are met and the concerns of the international community are assuaged,” the statement said. The Maldives is reeling under a political crisis. Yameen had declared the state of emergency soon after the Supreme Court issued an order on 1 February to release nine high-profile political prisoners, including exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed and reinstate unseated legislators. The ruling was, however, rescinded shortly after the announcement of Emergency. The Maldives plunged into a crisis with Yameen declaring a 15-day Emergency and arresting the chief justice and a former head of state after the Supreme Court termed as unjust the imprisonment of nine MPs and former President Mohammed Nasheed. Yameen sent special envoys to China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia even as New Delhi politely declined to host the Maldivian foreign minister. Nasheed, meanwhile, requested for India’s intervention to end the crisis in his country.