A day after lifting the 45 day long state of emergency, the Maldives government has stated that all constitutional rights have been restored and all aspects of life have returned to normalcy, while assuring the Maldivian people and the international community that the government's decisions are, and will continue to be made in the best interest of the Maldivian people.
New Delhi on Thursday reacted to the lifting of emergency in the neighbouring country by saying that this was one step towards addressing the issues related to the prevailing political situation in that country. "A number of concerns expressed by the international community still remain to be addressed," it had said.
"The Government of Maldives places utmost importance to uphold the rule of law, and therefore, the Constitution is being upheld both in letter and spirit," a Maldives government statement said while adding that the government firmly believes that the "recent political developments are an internal political matter and therefore should remain as a matter to be resolved internally."
Taking a strong note of the statement by New Delhi, Maldives government claimed that "it wishes to reiterate that public statements made without genuine regard to facts and ground realities of the situation in the Maldives are not helpful at all to ensure a stable, peaceful and prosperous Maldives that meets the aspirations of its citizens."
Maldives government further stated that the State of Emergency was declared in order to protect peace in the country and well-being of all citizens following the events that unfolded in relation to the Supreme Court judgement of February 1. The verdict “resulted in the disruption of the functions of the executive power and the State institutions vested with specific mandates under the Constitution, the infringement of national security and public interest, and if implemented, would have potentially lead to an undermining of the supremacy of the Constitution of the Maldives,” the statement said.
While stressing on the need for dialogue to find a solution to political differences amongst the stake holders, Maldives government has been repeatedly making efforts to reach out to opposition leaders, requesting their participation in all party talks.
Immediately after lifting of state of emergency, former President Mohamed Nasheed, who is exile in Sri Lanka, said "President Yameen has lifted the state of emergency as he now has no need for it. He imposed the state of emergency to overrun the judiciary and the legislature and used it to unlawfully arrest Parliament majority leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed along with SC Justice Ali Hameed and all remaining opposition leaders. He also used unlawful state of emergency powers to hold hostage Ibrahim Siyad Gasim."