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Maldives: Challenging days ahead for President Waheed
Feb 10, 2012

Maldives: Challenging days ahead for President Waheed

Maldive's new President Mohammed Waheed's hands are going to be full as the country is left with a bagful of unresolved crises, each piling upon the other, all of them needing urgent or not-so-urgent attention from the new leadership.

Maldives: Cohabitation blues cause constitutional crisis
Jul 02, 2010

Maldives: Cohabitation blues cause constitutional crisis

Having kicked off the constitutional deadlock in Maldives, by getting the whole Cabinet resigned, President Nasheed needs to find a wayout of the imbroglio. A snap poll, either for the President or Parliament, or both, are the possibilities.

Maldives: Competitive, combative, yet cooperative, too...
Jan 17, 2013

Maldives: Competitive, combative, yet cooperative, too...

In Maldives, the stage is now set again for a possible, limited confrontation between the Executive and the Legislature with President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik returning two of the three crucial Bills passed by Parliament.

Maldives: Consensus, the only alternative
Mar 02, 2012

Maldives: Consensus, the only alternative

The Maldivian Democratic Party needs to give the nation and Parliament time to rework the institutional framework as they exist, though not time enough for imbibing in them a new sense of purpose and direction expected of them in a democratic scheme.

Maldives: Courts now take the lead
Dec 13, 2012

Maldives: Courts now take the lead

Three court orders in two days, one of them overseas, and the Maldives Government and the leadership of President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik seem to be in full control of the evolving political situation.

Maldives: Decision on 'US military base' may have to wait
Jun 03, 2013

Maldives: Decision on 'US military base' may have to wait

Notwithstanding the recent media leaks on a 'US military base' in Maldives, a decision on whatever that facility be, may have to wait until after the parliamentary polls of May 2014, not stopping with the presidential elections due in September this year.

Maldives: Did India really get it wrong?
Feb 13, 2012

Maldives: Did India really get it wrong?

It is true that former President Nasheed and his party is hurt that India did not act as it may have anticipated. But the party may have to look inward to as to what might have gone wrong, particularly in terms of assessments of the emerging situation.

Maldives: EC crisis ends, polls as scheduled
Mar 15, 2014

Maldives: EC crisis ends, polls as scheduled

After managing well the crisis over the Election Commission in Maldives, the government now will have to initiate legal and political measures to institutionalise facilitating mechanisms for smooth transition. Again, the initiative would lie with President Yameen.

Maldives: End of emergency, what next?
Nov 12, 2015

Maldives: End of emergency, what next?

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen is not inexperienced to take half-way measures, only to go back on them. Yet, there is no denying that he would have a lot to explain as to how he has ended up making all wrong choices and decisions in his efforts to consolidate his political power.

Maldives: Feeble light at the end of the tunnel?
Mar 07, 2015

Maldives: Feeble light at the end of the tunnel?

Nasheed is the nation's most charismatic leader, maybe for all time. In such a scenario, independent of what the court verdict could be in the 'Judge Abdulla case', any disqualification of Nasheed from contesting the elections could see the politically-polarised nation even more sharply divided.

Maldives: Four-week reprieve for Nasheed
Mar 07, 2013

Maldives: Four-week reprieve for Nasheed

Despite apprehensions in some quarters, the Hulhumale' Magistrate Court in Maldives let former President Mohammed Nasheed to go home after the day's hearing on Wednesday evening, a day after he was picked up by the police a day earlier and detained overnight.

Maldives: From 'autocracy' to acrimony to anarchy?
Nov 01, 2013

Maldives: From 'autocracy' to acrimony to anarchy?

Addressing the 42nd annual celebrations of the bilateral relations organised by the Friendship Association of India and Maldives (FAIM) in Male on Friday, local media reported outgoing President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik as saying as much:

Maldives: From one crisis to another, and yet another?
Feb 02, 2012

Maldives: From one crisis to another, and yet another?

The latest in the series of crises that have hit the young Maldives democracy is the arrest of Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, Abdullah Mohammed, and the involvement of the Maldivian National Defence Force in executing the arrest request from the police.

Maldives: Govt rules out 'assassination plot' behind presidential boat-blast
Oct 02, 2015

Maldives: Govt rules out 'assassination plot' behind presidential boat-blast

Putting at rest avoidable speculation about the Opposition being behind Monday's blast on the presidential speedboat, the Maldivian Government has ruled out the possibility of an assassination attempt, saying a mechanical issue was the probable cause.

Maldives: How independent is Independence?
Jul 24, 2015

Maldives: How independent is Independence?

For a nation celebrating the golden jubilee of the country's Independence, Maldives has been at sixes and sevens through the previous year. And for a people who have taken politics and democracy with all its dynamism and vibrancy,

Maldives: Increasing fundamentalism a threat
Apr 08, 2011

Maldives: Increasing fundamentalism a threat

The Maldivian authorities can now breathe easy. Now that the Cricket World Cup, played in venues across Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, is completed without any security problems, the reported Interpol alert against Maldives-based religious terrorists targeting the match venues have receded for good.

Maldives: Institution-building, the why and how of it
Apr 20, 2012

Maldives: Institution-building, the why and how of it

Former President Mohammed Nasheed was on a six-day-long visit to India, pressing his case for early elections and reiterating his position on the need for reforming the nation's 'independent institutions'.

Maldives: Islam, nationalism and 'Islamic nationalism'
Jun 11, 2013

Maldives: Islam, nationalism and 'Islamic nationalism'

In Maldives, if the mainline polity has failed in fighting a process now being projected as contributing to religious extremism, militancy or terrorism, the global community too has failed to distinguish between a return of Islamic traditions and the advent of Islamic extremism, and act accordingly.

Maldives: Judiciary in 'crisis' or 'transition'?
Jun 06, 2013

Maldives: Judiciary in 'crisis' or 'transition'?

In Maldives, legal and judicial process may be in for another season of controversies, ahead of the presidential polls in September. It is also in transition, from a not-so-democratic past to a democratised future. It is too early to say which way it would go.

Maldives: Now, 'inclusive polls' does not stop with Nasheed
Oct 25, 2013

Maldives: Now, 'inclusive polls' does not stop with Nasheed

After the cancellation or non-conduct of the court-ordered first-round re-poll on 19 October in Maldives, outgoing President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik and the Supreme Court seem to have expanded the scope and meaning of 'inclusive poll' in the even more contemporary context.

Maldives: Of democracy and 'mobocracy'
Nov 23, 2012

Maldives: Of democracy and 'mobocracy'

If one thing is becoming increasingly clear in 'democratised' Maldives, it is that street-protests can change Governments and constitutions, policies and national priorities. It is thus that the nation found street-protests heralding 'multi-party' democracy,

Maldives: Opposition targets India on economic reforms
Aug 26, 2011

Maldives: Opposition targets India on economic reforms

That the Maldivian Government of President Mohammed 'Anni' Nasheed has taken the economic reforms process seriously, risking its electoral future, has been known for some time now.

Maldives: Party-time may be over for smaller parties!
Jan 03, 2013

Maldives: Party-time may be over for smaller parties!

Maldives parliament vote barring registration of political parties with less than 10,000 verifiable members may have set the cat among the pigeons in the Maldivian polity. For, included in the list could be the Quamee Iththihad Party of none other than President Mohammed.

Maldives: Political scene hots up again
Mar 06, 2013

Maldives: Political scene hots up again

After a week of relative lull on the political front, Maldivian politics revved up on March 5, after the police detained former President Mohammed Nasheed, for production before the Hulhumale' court.

Maldives: Poll-ball should go back to the court for one last time
Oct 21, 2013

Maldives: Poll-ball should go back to the court for one last time

In Maldives, 'bogus voters' and 'fraudulent votes' were among the major issues on which the Supreme Court had adjudicated. However, the prescribed cure has proved to be as problematic as the perceived ailment.

Maldives: Presidential poll falls into a pattern
Nov 11, 2013

Maldives: Presidential poll falls into a pattern

In Maldives, successive elections have shown that the MDP is still not in 'absolute majority' in electoral terms. The DRP cross-over in Parliament after the annulled polls, which alone gave the MDP combine a working majority in the House, may not tell the whole story.

Maldives: Presidential poll poised for 'photo-finish'?
Sep 18, 2013

Maldives: Presidential poll poised for 'photo-finish'?

It is anybody's guess why Maldives' Election Commission did not choose to move the Supreme Court, particularly when legal cases of the current nature has the potential to reset the poll-clock, for which there is no provision in the Constitution.

Maldives: Putting new 'foreign policy' to practice - and test?
Sep 05, 2014

Maldives: Putting new 'foreign policy' to practice - and test?

Without most people noticing it and anyone acknowledging it, either inside the country or outside, Maldives' new President Abdulla Yameen launched the nation's new 'foreign policy' at a quiet ceremony in capital Male on January 20, 2014.

Maldives: Reading China's 'Indian signals' wrong?
Nov 26, 2014

Maldives: Reading China's 'Indian signals' wrong?

The unresolved India-China border dispute brings China closer to the Indian Ocean in every political and geo-strategic calculation of nations like Maldives and Sri Lanka, even though they are not as close to both the 'Asian giants' as the rest of India's South Asian neighbours.

Maldives: Reconciliation hopes remain despite cancellation of third-round talks
Jul 10, 2015

Maldives: Reconciliation hopes remain despite cancellation of third-round talks

In Maldives, despite a last-minute 'cancellation' of the third round of talks between the Government and the MDP leader of the combined Opposition, there is nothing to suggest that the current reconciliation process has derailed, irrecoverably.

Maldives: Reconciling to reconciliation
Mar 21, 2012

Maldives: Reconciling to reconciliation

In Maldives, with the People's Majlis, or Parliament, commencing its delayed inaugural session for the current year with the customary address by President Mohammed Wahid Hassan, even if in the midst of disturbances caused by Maldivian Democratic Party.

Maldives: SC sacks polls chief, deputy ahead of Majlis' vote
Jul 03, 2014

Maldives: SC sacks polls chief, deputy ahead of Majlis' vote

In a not-so-unexpected development, the Maldivian Supreme Court stripped Elections Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice-President Ahmed Fayaz Hassan of their membership, for the contempt of the court.

Maldives: Seeking to put judiciary in a spot
Mar 29, 2013

Maldives: Seeking to put judiciary in a spot

On specifics they may differ, but a common view seems to be slowly emerging on the imminent need for effecting reforms to the nation's judiciary among the divided polity in Maldives.

Maldives: SEZs are here but concerns remain
Sep 12, 2014

Maldives: SEZs are here but concerns remain

In an ambitious legislative move aimed at attracting big-time investments spread across the archipelago, the Maldivian Government of President Abdulla Yameen has got the Parliament to pass a new law for setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs).

Maldives: Split parties, splintering alliances strengthen President's hand
Jul 10, 2011

Maldives: Split parties, splintering alliances strengthen President's hand

For a democratic polity that is still in its infancy, Maldives has faced splits in major parties barring the ruling MDP and splintering alliances, whose aggregate result is to strengthen the hands of President Mohammed Nasheed.

Maldives: Stake-holders must go beyond checkmate and stalemate on Yameen's initiative
May 25, 2015

Maldives: Stake-holders must go beyond checkmate and stalemate on Yameen's initiative

After seemingly winning the earlier rounds in the ongoing political tug-of-war since the New Year commenced, Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen seems to have got his political detractors on the wrong foot again,

Maldives: Supreme Court orders fresh polls
Oct 08, 2013

Maldives: Supreme Court orders fresh polls

Maldives President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik had indicated in a national address last week that he would transfer power on 11 November. Yet, the Supreme Court's observation may have thrown up an eminently avoidable possibility.

Maldives: Taking the political momentum forward
May 18, 2012

Maldives: Taking the political momentum forward

It did not receive as much media attention as the one by predecessor Mohammed Nasheed a fortnight earlier in the host nation. Yet when President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik came calling at New Delhi he did make his points, loud and clear at corridors and quarters that mattered.

Maldives: Talk of 'another coup'
Feb 11, 2014

Maldives: Talk of 'another coup'

For a second occasion in almost as many weeks, former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed hinted at a change of the country's leadership. Such reports will sound credible only if the MDP is able to muster two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Maldives: The importance of the three presidential candidates' meeting
Nov 01, 2013

Maldives: The importance of the three presidential candidates' meeting

The recent three-presidential-candidate-meeting and their meaningful proposal to complete the poll process in time has brought back political pragmatism back to the nation's centre-table, where electoral expediency and excesses alone seemed to rule for an interim.

Maldives: The stranglehold of coalition politics continues
Nov 19, 2013

Maldives: The stranglehold of coalition politics continues

The recent presidential polls show the continuing stranglehold of 'coalition politics' in the contemporary Maldivian context. It became visible when Nasheed defeated incumbent Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in the second round of the 2008 polls, after securing only 25 percent vote-share in the first round.

Maldives: Towards a free and peaceful poll
Sep 05, 2013

Maldives: Towards a free and peaceful poll

There is a need for all-party coordination committees at the island and atoll-levels, besides at the highest level, to ensure a smooth presidential polls on September 7. There is also a greater need for coordination between the police and the EC officials at all levels.

Maldives: Trivialising the Presidency
Jan 03, 2015

Maldives: Trivialising the Presidency

In Maldives, a ruling coalition member's decision to move an amendment to the 2008 Constitution, to fix an upper age-limit of 65 years for contesting presidential election, has landed President Abdulla Yameen in an unnecessary controversy.

Maldives: Uniting in the name of Islam and Palestine
Aug 06, 2014

Maldives: Uniting in the name of Islam and Palestine

In Maldives, the use of religion for political purposes should not be confused with a return or advent of 'fundamentalist Islam' or whatever.

Maldives: What after Nasheed's 'refuge' in Indian mission?
Feb 14, 2013

Maldives: What after Nasheed's 'refuge' in Indian mission?

In Maldives, the development following former President Nasheed seeking refuge in Indian Embassy after an arrest warrant from a local court has raised a number of issues -- legal, political and diplomatic. Presidential polls are due in the country in September this year.

Maldives: What after ruling coalition splitting over Speaker's choice
May 30, 2014

Maldives: What after ruling coalition splitting over Speaker's choice

In Maldives, the three-party ruling coalition, led by President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives, has split on the very first day of the very first session of the People's Parliament, elected only in March.

Maldives: When will Modi follow suit after Sushma's visit?
Oct 17, 2015

Maldives: When will Modi follow suit after Sushma's visit?

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj undertook a two-day weekend visit to Maldives, setting the stage for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to follow suit, but possibly based on the quick-changing domestic developments in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Maldives: Where from here after emergency
Nov 05, 2015

Maldives: Where from here after emergency

The question of the emergency-declaration by Maldives President Abdulla Yameen being a political ploy for the President if only to effect an across-the-board purge, needs even more convincing arguments than what former President Nasheed's MDP has now put forth.

Maldives: Why 'national govt' ahead of polls?
Mar 30, 2012

Maldives: Why 'national govt' ahead of polls?

Now that the nation has regained some semblance of order and some of its lost direction, it is time that the divided polity in Maldives sat down and discussed pending issues for a political solution aimed at breaking what is increasingly becoming a passive deadlock.