Nasheed: UN wants MDP to send names for all-party talks

Former Maldivian President and Leader of Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Nasheed has revealed that United Nations has requested MDP to send names of its delegates for all-party talks.

Nasheed, who is currently in Unites States, tweeted on Tuesday, January 24, that he met with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey D. Samuel and Senior Adviser of UN’s Department of Political Affairs, Tamrat Samuel.

He said that during the meeting, the UN asked that MDP send names of its delegates to resume the all-party talks.

Met UN USG Feltman with Special Envoy Samuel. UN's view is for MDP to send the names of their delegates for all Party talks to the UN.

— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) January 24, 2017

Tamrat Samuel is UN’s Special Envoy to mediate the all-party talks with Maldivian government and Maldivian political parties – something which has come to a standstill.

Nasheed’s meeting with the UN officials come after the head of Maldivian government’s delegation for the all-party talks, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. Mohamed Shainee commented during an interview with an Indian newspaper that there was no longer any urgent need for the all-party talks.

“This time we want to ensure that whoever is coming to the table is legitimate. Because if you are following from newspapers, even the opposition has a lot of internal conflicts, so someone who comes now to the party talks and reaches an agreement could go out and say that no, this was not approved by the council by the highest authorities. We want to avoid this situation,” said Shainee in his interview.

Shainee said that the country was now stable, and that there was no longer any urgent need to resume the all-party talks.

“For us, life in the Maldives is normal. So, if there was a situation where there was a need for reconciliation or something… that requires an understanding that needs to be out of the norm, then, I am sure that they (opposition) will be coming to us.”