Nasheed did not tell Cabinet he was under duress on 7 Feb: Didi

Former Minister of Fisheries and current President of Jumhooree Party (JP) Dr Ibrahim Didi (Didi) has said that former President Mohamed Nasheed did not mention that he was under duress, during the meeting with members of his cabinet just before he resigned.

Dr Didi made this statement at a press conference at JP Office last night.

“There is no evidence that there was a coup on 7 February. I was one of Nasheed’s closest associates when he resigned on 7 February. Not once did he mention at the Cabinet meeting that he was being forced or threatened to resign by the Police of MNDF.”

He went on to say that MDP cannot say that the government was changed through a coup before the Commission of National Inquiry completes its report.

Criticising MDP, Dr Didi said that MDP’s capacity in the Direct Action protests is unclear.

“It is not known, in which capacity they are creating unrest on the streets. There are two ways political parties hold protests, either in their capacity as the ruling party or the opposition party. But the people on the streets today – we don’t know in which capacity they are protesting! They are not acting like an opposition, but they are definitely not the ruling party,” Dr Didi said.

He noted that MDP has no right to say that the power was transferred through a coup, and pointed out that the three former Presidents of MDP were removed from their posts by conducting coups. He said that the history of Maldives clearly shows who are responsible for coups in this country in the past.