Amid stepped up efforts by India to help ease the political crisis in Maldives, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is set to hold talks with political leaders in Male to get firsthand assessment of the situation.
Making it clear that the elections would be held as per schedule in 2013, Maldives' new President Mohammed Waheed Hassan has asked ousted leader Mohammad Nasheed's MDP to join the national unity government, an offer which was turned down by the party demanding snap polls.
Maldives' state-run MACL on Friday night took over the operations of the Male international airport from GMR after the Indian infrastructure major lost a week-long legal battle over the "unilateral" termination of its $511 million airport modernisation contract.
GMR was misled by the (predecessor) Nasheed administration to signing a legally unsustainable agreement, says Maldives president, Mohamed Waheed.
Maldives will go ahead with the transfer as scheduled, said Press Secretary Masood Imad.
Ending eleven days of stalemate, ex-Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed on Saturday walked out of the Indian High Commission in Male where he was holed up since last Wednesday to evade an arrest warrant.
Angry over the disruption of parliament by lawmakers of Mohamed Nasheed's party, Maldives' second largest political bloc DRP has withdrawn from the all-party talks, dealing a blow to efforts to reconcile the country's fractured political atmosphere.
Angry lawmakers of former President Mohammed Nasheed's party on Thursday prevented the new President from delivering the opening address in Parliament even as protesters hit the streets clashing with police, deepening the political crisis.
Fresh violence erupted in Maldives including inside the parliament that was scheduled to open on Thursday with supporters of former president Mohammed Nasheed attacking the police and preventing President Mohammed Waheed Hassan from making his opening address.
Maldives' new regime has appointed a commission to probe allegations of coup against it following President Mohammed Nasheed's ouster, Male's envoy said on Wednesday, while accusing the toppled leader's Maldivian Democratic Party of reneging on an India-brokered deal to resolve the political impasse.
Promising to respect democracy, the new Maldives President Mohammed Waheed has told the United States that he intends to form a national unity government which would include participation of opposition parties.
The realist school of thought currently employed by Delhi, that friendships don't matter as long as national interest is taken care of, is all very well to pursue, except in this case Nasheed exemplified both friendship and national interest. After its errors of judgement on the Maldives, India's next opportunity will come only when elections are held.
Maldives Attorney-General Ahmed Ali Sawad's legal opinion, dated December 28, 2010, was shared by GMR sources on Tuesday.
Did GMR Infra get a sweet deal from former Maldivian president that turned sour as a new government came to power?
Seeking to mollify New Delhi after intemperate anti-India remarks by a key presidential aide, Maldives has given profound apology as a USD 514-million airport project carried out by Indian company GMR became a target of political football.
Mohamed Nasheed was not ousted as president in a coup as claimed by him and the transfer of power was legal, a government-appointed inquiry commission said on Thursday amid caution by India to all stakeholders in Maldives against disturbing peace and tranquility over it.
Amidst opposition supporters picketing Parliament and violence on the streets, Maldives President Mohammed Waheed on Monday gave his maiden Presidential address saying he was open for early elections.
Hundreds of supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Nasheed gathered outside the Majlis for a second time in the day on Sunday raising slogans against the current regime of Mohammed Waheed Hassan.
A coup has reportedly been launched in The Maldives by the opposition and rogue elements of the police. According to reports, opposition demonstrators have taken over the state broadcaster. There are also unconfirmed reports of the coup having the army's support.President Mohammed Nasheed has reportedly resigned and he may be replaced by Vice-President Mohammed Waheed Hassan. Television channels are reporting that a flash election can be expected.
Ahead of the first visit by President Mohamed Waheed, Maldives on Friday hoped that India will respect its sovereignty and will not play a role in the internal politics of the country.
The new Maldives government is not inclined to pursuing politics of revenge and does not intend to arrest ousted president Mohamed Nasheed, the country's new Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen said on Monday.
After the 2007 Male bombings, the idyllic islands in Maldives have transformed in a hotbed of terror and the emergence of hardline Islam in the country has given India every reason to worry. Vicky Nanjappa reports
In its hurried recognition of the new government in Male, has India lost sight of the ground realities in Maldives?
Ousted President Mohamed Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party on Monday ruled out any participation in the new unity government but offered to join conditional talks with the new President to end the political crisis. In a statement, the MDP has made it clear that the party will not participate in the National Unification Government, which was formed under new President Mohamed Waheed Hassan. The MDP said that it can join the reconciliation talks to end the political crisis.
President Mohamed Waheed Hassan's brother, the Deputy High Commissioner of the Maldives to the United Kingdom, has resigned and asked his brother to follow suit, describing his new government as "illegitimate".
Maldives' ousted president Mohammed Nasheed on Saturday said he was disappointed with India over its response to the political turmoil without having properly understood the ground situation in his country.
Maldives' ousted president Mohammed Nasheed on Saturday said he was disappointed with India over its response to the political turmoil without having properly understood the ground situation in his country.
An uneasy calm prevailed on Saturday on the streets of Maldivian capital Male following days of protests and clashes in the wake of the resignation of the country's first democratically-elected President Mohamed Nasheed. Shops and businesses opened in the city on Saturday morning after remaining closed during the protests, which erupted four days ago. Areas around the Maldives National Defence Force headquarters as well as the police headquarters witnessed normal activity.
The Maldivian Democratic Party has claimed that Mohammad Nasheed was forced to resign as president by the military, which threatened a bloodbath in the capital if he did not step down. B Raman reports
A day after the sudden change of regime in Maldives following turmoil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday reached out to new President Mohamed Waheed expressing India's "continued support" to him.
Maldives' new government has commended India for the way it dealt with the political upheaval in the country, saying New Delhi was not "fooled" by Mohamed Nasheed's claims of a coup and was "correct" in its reaction.
Refusing to give up his political ambitions despite an arrest warrant against him, 44-year-old Nasheed kept up the heat on new President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who was his deputy just three days ago, and demanded that he step down to pave the way for fresh elections.
Ousted Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed has said he will be approaching the country's Supreme Court for justice following a coup, which he claims was engineered by then Vice President Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan.
In a significant decision, which may escalate the political turmoil in Maldives, the country's supreme court on Tuesday declared as null and void the first round of presidential polls in which former president Mohammed Nasheed emerged as the winner.
Former President Mohammed Nasheed emerged as a clear leader on Sunday in the first round of Maldives presidential election, receiving 45 per cent votes, but fell short of an outright majority, resulting in a run-off between the top two candidates scheduled for later in September.
Maldives Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of the run-off presidential re-vote scheduled for Sunday, a day after former president Mohammed Nasheed led the first round but failed to clinch an outright majority.
"As we continued with (preparation for) voting, the Maldives Police Services have said no document relating to the election can leave the commission's offices, stopping the election," said a statement issued by the Election Commission.
Voting was held in Maldives on Saturday for the second multi-party presidential elections with long queues of people outside polling stations in this Indian Ocean archipelago, which has seen a series of unsettling political events in the last eighteen months.
This is the first time that the Maldives government has acknowledged that compensation has to be paid to GMR.
In a major development, former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed was on Friday night sentenced to 13-year imprisonment by a criminal court in Male under the anti-terrorism laws.
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