2011 Maldivian protests

2011 Maldivian Protests
Date May 2011 Location The Maldives, Youth Square
Parties to the civil conflict
Maldivian Youths	Opposition Party
Lead figures
More than 100 injured, 75 seriously injured[citation needed]	350+ arrests[citation needed]

The 2011 Maldivian protests were a series of peaceful protests that broke out in the Maldives on 1 May 2011. Demonstrators were protesting what they considered the government's mismanagement of the economy. Protesters have been calling for the ouster of President Mohamed Nasheed. The main political opposition party in the country, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (Maldivian People's Party) led by the former president of the country Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (who was in power for over 30 years under an authoritarian system) has accused President Nasheed of "talking about democracy but not putting it into practice."

The primary cause for the protests is rising commodity prices and a poor economic situation in the country.^[1]

The protests led to a resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed, on 7 February 2012, and the Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn as the new president of Maldives. However, some have questioned the legitimacy of the new government.^[2][3] In April 2012, it was announced that new elections were to be held in July 2013.

Background

Following nearly 30 years of autocratic rule by then-President Maumoon Gayoom, marked by allegations of autocratic rule, human rights abuses and corruption, violent protests in 2004 and 2005 led to a series of major reforms to the Maldives. The protests were organized by now-president Mohamed Nasheed and his party. Internal and international pressure forced then-President Gayoom to legalize political parties and improve the democratic process. Multi-party, multi-candidate elections were held on 9 October 2008, with 5 candidates running against Gayoom. A 28 October runoff election between Gayoom and Nasheed resulted in a 54-percent majority for Nasheed and his vice-president candidate Dr. Waheed. A former journalist and political prisoner, Nasheed was a staunch critic of the Gayoom regime. In a speech prior to handing over power to his successor on 11 November 2008, Gayoom said: "I deeply regret any actions on my part ... (that) led to unfair treatment, difficulty or injustice for any Maldivian." At the time, Nasheed was detained and imprisoned several times since the age of 20, for heavy criticisms against Gayoom's administration and its officials in relation with election fraud and high profile corruption. Nasheed was tortured and treated inhumanly in detention. Gayoom was the longest serving leader of any Asian country, serving for 30 years.

Mohamed Nasheed was elected president in 2008, becoming the first president to be elected by a multi-party democracy in the Maldives, and Dr. Waheed was the first elected Vice President in the Maldives. Their election victory ended the 30-year dictatorship of President Gayoom. Nasheed and the new government implemented many reforms in the country. In 2009, President Nasheed was awarded the Anna Lindh Award for bringing democracy to the Maldives. He has received many awards and international recognition for his role in bringing democracy to the country.

Despite major political reforms, however, the Maldivian economy continued to suffer. Many factors have created for a poor economic situation in the Maldives, including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which devastated the Maldivian economy and caused serious damage on most of the islands of the Maldives. The 2007–2008 world food price crisis caused major rise in inflation, especially on food prices and the Late-2000s recession created a tough economic situation in developing nations. There were improvements in the economy, however, as the Maldives was rated up in 2011 from being considered "least developed country".^[4][5]

The 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests broke out across the Arab world and had worldwide influence, including in the Maldives, which shares historic, cultural, regional and religious connections to the Middle Eastern countries facing protests.

2012 resignation

Nasheed resigned on 7 February 2012 following weeks of protests after he ordered the military to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, on January 16. Maldives police joined the protesters after refusing to fire on them and took over the state-owned television station^[which?] forcibly switching the broadcast opposition party leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's call for people to come out to protest. The Maldives Army then clashed with police and other protesters who were with the police. All this time no one of the protester tried to invade any security facility including head quarters of MNDF. The Chief Justice was released from detention after Nasheed resigned from his post.

Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik was sworn as the new president of Maldives.^{[citation needed]}

Timeline

This section requires expansion.

2011

May 1

The first protests occurred on 1 May 2011, with thousands gathering in the capital Malé.^[6]

May 2

Protests continued the following day with thousands gathering in the capital and reported clashes with police and protesters.^[7]

May 3

Over 2,000 demonstrators clashed with Maldivian security forces in Male. Riot police reportedly used tear gas to disperse the protesters.^[8]

May 4

Protests again broke out for a fourth night. Police used force to break up demonstrators and eyewitnesses say that police arrested a senior opposition activist.^[9]

May 5

For the fifth night protesters began their protests at Artificial Beach. In the fifth night of demonstrations Parliamentarian and DRP youth Council President Mr.Ahmed Mahloof, Maldives national football team forward Assad Ali and several others was arrested.^[10][11][12]

2012

In January and February, there was an escalation in the protests and some protesters attacked the opposition-linked VTV television station. The police began a mutiny in late January. On 7 February, the protests reached their climax, with the military firing tear gas at demonstrators and police who were swarming the National Defence Force headquarters. After this, President Nasheed resigned, stating that he wanted to stop the violence.^[13] Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik was then sworn in as the new president. On 1 March, thousands of protestors who supported Mohamed Nasheed rallied to prevent Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik from entering Parliament.^[14].

On April 14, by-elections were held, the first since the protests began, with Mohammed Waheed winning.^[15] The next elections are scheduled for October 2013.^[16]

References