British Government tells President Nasheed to follow the rule of law. This was revealed to the Parliament by a British cabinet minister and the Leader of the House of Commons Sir George Young on 22 July 2010.

The former State Minister for Home Affairs and current Shadow Minister and Labour MP for Harrow West Hon Gareth Thomas (http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/gareth-thomas/25273) demanded an explanation from the Foreign Office about the health of democracy in the Maldives. Hon Gareth said “given that the Foreign Office has issued a travel warning for British tourists to the Maldives, that opposition MPs there are still being detained and that the Chief Justice has been intimidated, will the right hon. Gentleman redouble his efforts to secure such a statement?”

In response to the question the Hon. Minister said “I am grateful to the Hon. Gentleman for raising the issue again. As he will know, this country, the UN, the US and EU heads of mission have issued a public statement urging the political parties of the Maldives to engage in a constructive and open dialogue, to address the challenges to which the hon. Gentleman. We have stressed to the Government of the Maldives the importance of upholding the rule of law and we remain a strong supporter of the democratic reform process in the Maldives.”

This must be disappointing to President Nasheed and his ruling MDP which has close relationship with the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party has provided training as well as advice to MDP. President Nasheed was the guest speaker in the last Conservative Party Convention in which the President announced that there are no political prisoners in the country. However, during the last 30 days alone President Nasheed has arrested four MPs – two of them without any court warrant. Two of them are facing sedition charges – the same offence Nasheed was charged when in opposition.

Conservatives are fast realizing that Nasheed is betraying the very cause he championed while in opposition. His refusal to give any access to the opposition to the state media, disregard of court orders, intimidation of judges, clear disregard of laws passed by the Parliament, encouragement of mob rule through street marches by Ministers and other senior government officials, setting up his own mob rule courts in which “people tried and sentenced”, sending tanks and heavily armed soldiers to arrest MPs and to hold them without any charge or a court order, are fast becoming intolerable.

While the Conservatives are forced to defend a President and a government which blatantly disregards values, ways and beliefs Conservatives and the British public so dearly holds, Labour would happily and rightly claim that it did more to introduce reform in the Maldives through the British High Commission and Commonwealth.

At a time when President Nasheed is behaving badly, employment of the President and First Lady’s relatives in the Office of the British High Commission to the Maldives could embarrass even further.

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