Maldives president resigns after weeks of protest

BY MARK MAGNIER | LOS ANGELES TIMES

NEW DELHI — The Maldives’ first democratically elected president resigned Tuesday after weeks of protest over his decision to sack a judge he had accused of favoring the opposition.

A government statement posted on the president’s website said state institutions were working to bring peace and stability to the island nation even as it called on citizens to remain calm.

“It will be better for the country in the current situation if I resign,” President Mohamed Nasheed told a televised news conference. “I don’t want to run the country with an iron fist.”

Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as president a short time later.

Given that police officers sided with anti-government demonstrators and a portion of the army stayed loyal to the president, Nasheed averted a civil war by resigning, said Anand Kumar, associate fellow with New Delhi’s Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis, a think tank.

The unrest has regional implications, he added. “Any uncertainty in the Maldives allows other parties to creep in, Pakistan but mostly China,” he said. “That could be a threat to the U.S. as well. China’s been looking for an opportunity there.”

Nasheed, a former political prisoner and human rights activist, was elected in 2008 when the Indian Ocean nation held its first democratic election following three decades of rule by autocratic leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Last month, Nasheed ordered the army to arrest Criminal Court Chief Justice Abdulla Mohamed. The government alleged that the judge’s rulings — including the release of an opposition activist detained without a warrant — were politically motivated and symptomatic of deep bias within the judicial system.

In a bid to ease the political crisis, Nasheed’s government appealed to the United Nations to mediate, which it had been scheduled to do on Thursday.