Shainee invites parties to re-start talks

The government has extended invitation for political parties in Maldives to re-start an open dialogue, coming after a week of political turmoil in the country with the surprise Supreme Court order to release nine political figures on February 1.

Efforts to re-start all party talks have failed several times with both the government and political parties setting conditions.

Government last extended the invitation to re-start all party talks in September, 2017. The government had extended the invitation unconditionally, conceding that even former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom can participate in the dialogue.

The effort had failed after the government refused to meet some of the demands set by the opposition.

Some of the demands had included stopping imprisonment of political leaders and opposition parliamentarians, stopping alleged influence by the government of the judiciary and independent institutions, and stopping acts of corruption by government officials.

The chief envoy for all party talks on behalf of the government, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. Mohamed Shainee tweeted this Thursday morning that the Maldives Police Service has revealed evidence against people behind an attempted coup, and that the government believed the opposition would want to solve political differences through dialogue.

After Police Services revealed some of the evidences against the people behind the attempted coup, we believe the opposition will want to solve the political differences thru dialogue. So government calls on political parties to start party talks.

— Mohamed Shainee (@mshainee) February 8, 2018

Meanwhile, Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, Supreme Court Judge Ali Hameed, Judicial Administrator Hassan Saeed, and former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have all been detained on charges of bribery and attempting to overthrow the government.

The four people were arrested hours after President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom declared a State of Emergency. All four people, except for Judge Ali Hameed are currently being detained at Dhoonidhoo Prison. Judge Ali Hameed is admitted at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital due to poor health.