Male, March 15 (March 15): Four Members of the Maldivian Parliament were among ten people arrested on Wednesday night as police cracked down on “illegal demonstrations and violent riots” aimed at overthrowing the government.
Opposition MPs Mariya Ahmed Didi, Mohamed Ameeth, Ali Hussain and Faisal Naseem were arrested along with former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam from a gathering on the capital’s main thoroughfare, according to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Five female protesters pepper sprayed at close range were admitted to the hospital with the help of Red Crescent volunteers.
Accusing the opposition of disrupting public order and inciting violence “with the sole purpose of overthrowing the lawfully elected government,” police said in a statement that nine people were taken into custody “for obstruction of justice and for being unruly” in addition to one individual suspected of dousing a policeman with used engine oil.
Police also seized 105 packets of “pepper water” alleged to have been prepared for use against officers.
President Yameen Ratifies New Acts
Meanwhile,President Abdulla Yameen ratified the two Acts passed by parliament this week. One is to ban crossing of the floor in parliament with disqualification as the punishment and the other is to sack judges convicted for crimes.
The opposition appealed to the Supreme Court against the way the two Acts were passed. The acts needed a minimum of 43 votes but they got only 36 and 38. The opposition has been boycotting parliament against the questionable ways in which Ameen had been running the country and parliament. If the 12 MP had not been sacked for crossing the floor,the opposition would have had a majority,
