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| Former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted by gunpoint in February, is in Delhi to lobby policymakers. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters |
Mohamed Nasheed, the ousted president of the Maldives,
has appealed for the international community to support early elections
in his country as he linked the fight for democracy with the battle
against global warming.
Nasheed, a respected climate change campaigner who was forced out of power in February, said on Wednesday that he hoped for "robust" pressure from regional and world powers to "restore democracy" in the Maldives as soon as possible.
The 44-year-old politician, who became president in 2008 after the Maldives's first multiparty election for 30 years, described his disappointment at the reactions of the US and India to his overthrow by elements of the police and military. Both Washington and Delhi recognised the new administration of President Mohammed Waheed and called for a government of unity instead of early polls. Both have opposed stricter measures on climate change, Nasheed said.
"If you do a map of who supported [us] and who did not, it maps the climate change issue. The Europeans are far, far better than bigger emitting countries and the USA," he told the Guardian on a visit to India.
The former journalist, who was imprisoned and tortured under the repressive rule of former dictator Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, is in Delhi to lobby policymakers. Recently in Washington, he also hopes to visit the UK next month.
"The government in the Maldives must be formed through the consent of the people … through democracy," he said. "We would like to see Britain to engage more robustly with the regime … and do some straight talking. We don't want [all the progress made towards democracy] to go down the drain after this coup."
The new government denies coercion and Waheed has ordered an inquiry into his predecessor's departure from office. Presidential polls are due next year. Two recent byelections on outlying islands were won by government-backed candidates. Analysts pointed out, however, that Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic party is largely urban based.
Described by David Cameron as "my new best friend", Nasheed became one of the world's leading voices against climate change, especially in the lead-up to the 2009 UN summit on climate change summit in Copenhagen. He held a ministerial meeting underwater, with his cabinet in scuba gear, to illustrate the threat to the islands from rising sea levels.
"The Maldives needs to articulate climate change issues in the world and for us to do that our own house has to be in order. For proper policies you need good governance. Fundamental rights are being disregarded, such as freedom of association and freedom of speech, and religious radicalism is on the rise," he said.
A political crisis in the Maldives had been building for some time before Nasheed was removed from office at gunpoint. In January, frustrated by the judiciary's attempts to thwart his reforms, the then president ordered the arrest of the chief justice, Abdulla Mohamed, an act criticised by Amnesty International.
Protesters loyal to the old regime took to the streets, supported by factions within the police, and on 7 February, after weeks of unrest, Nasheed was confronted by armed military officers.
A feature-length documentary on him has just been released.
He said on Wednesday that, despite an arrest warrant in the Maldives, he would continue campaigning.
"I am threatened and I am scared but I have to go on. I have been tortured twice so I know but I have to go on," he said.
Though Waheed has promised early polls, it is unlikely that an election will take place this year, experts said. The lucrative tourist trade on the islands had remained largely unaffected by the political turmoil.
Nasheed, a respected climate change campaigner who was forced out of power in February, said on Wednesday that he hoped for "robust" pressure from regional and world powers to "restore democracy" in the Maldives as soon as possible.
The 44-year-old politician, who became president in 2008 after the Maldives's first multiparty election for 30 years, described his disappointment at the reactions of the US and India to his overthrow by elements of the police and military. Both Washington and Delhi recognised the new administration of President Mohammed Waheed and called for a government of unity instead of early polls. Both have opposed stricter measures on climate change, Nasheed said.
"If you do a map of who supported [us] and who did not, it maps the climate change issue. The Europeans are far, far better than bigger emitting countries and the USA," he told the Guardian on a visit to India.
The former journalist, who was imprisoned and tortured under the repressive rule of former dictator Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, is in Delhi to lobby policymakers. Recently in Washington, he also hopes to visit the UK next month.
"The government in the Maldives must be formed through the consent of the people … through democracy," he said. "We would like to see Britain to engage more robustly with the regime … and do some straight talking. We don't want [all the progress made towards democracy] to go down the drain after this coup."
The new government denies coercion and Waheed has ordered an inquiry into his predecessor's departure from office. Presidential polls are due next year. Two recent byelections on outlying islands were won by government-backed candidates. Analysts pointed out, however, that Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic party is largely urban based.
Described by David Cameron as "my new best friend", Nasheed became one of the world's leading voices against climate change, especially in the lead-up to the 2009 UN summit on climate change summit in Copenhagen. He held a ministerial meeting underwater, with his cabinet in scuba gear, to illustrate the threat to the islands from rising sea levels.
"The Maldives needs to articulate climate change issues in the world and for us to do that our own house has to be in order. For proper policies you need good governance. Fundamental rights are being disregarded, such as freedom of association and freedom of speech, and religious radicalism is on the rise," he said.
A political crisis in the Maldives had been building for some time before Nasheed was removed from office at gunpoint. In January, frustrated by the judiciary's attempts to thwart his reforms, the then president ordered the arrest of the chief justice, Abdulla Mohamed, an act criticised by Amnesty International.
Protesters loyal to the old regime took to the streets, supported by factions within the police, and on 7 February, after weeks of unrest, Nasheed was confronted by armed military officers.
A feature-length documentary on him has just been released.
He said on Wednesday that, despite an arrest warrant in the Maldives, he would continue campaigning.
"I am threatened and I am scared but I have to go on. I have been tortured twice so I know but I have to go on," he said.
Though Waheed has promised early polls, it is unlikely that an election will take place this year, experts said. The lucrative tourist trade on the islands had remained largely unaffected by the political turmoil.
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