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Gayoom's
rival to end exile, faces arrest A political refugee in Britain, Mohamed Nasheed is likely to court arrest on his return. "I am planning to return in 10 days time," he told reporters in Colombo last week. Maldivian High Commission officials in Colombo said if Nasheed hasn't violated the laws of the land, he need not worry about returning. MDP chairperson Nasheed and Mohamed Latheef, both former parliamentarians, have been the guiding force behind the party-in-exile that is pushing for political reforms and is critical of Gayoom's 27-year long rule. At recent elections to the Majlis, the Maldivian Parliament, 19 of the 42 seats were won by independent candidates supporting the MDP. Nasheed, popularly known as "Anni" and is a well-known writer, believes he is taking a gamble in returning home. "If the President wants to pursue the political reforms that he says he has embarked on, then he should allow political pluralism," he said. But he also says he can't see President Gayoom allowing other political parties to flourish in the Maldives which has been ruled with an iron fist by the President. Human rights groups including Amnesty International have reported many people being jailed without trial and many others being arrested for no reason, over nearly three decades. On Friday, the MDP leader met a group of EU Parliamentarians reviewing post-tsunami work in Sri Lanka and flying to the Maldives on Saturday. "I told them about fears of my being arrested and they agreed to raise it with the President whom they are meeting," Nasheed said. Nasheed says he has been jailed eight times and tortured twice but hopes his return would be followed by international human rights groups and the media. He wants to return and set up party branches in all the islands while organising the group's first congress in July. "We want to set up a shadow government. I can't see the government allowing us to set up our party. The power of the gun and the rule of arbitrary arrests and torture is with the government," said Nasheed, who went into exile in 2003. President Gayoom's latest attempt at political reforms came in June 2004 but the MDP says his words were not matched with deeds. "There has been no improvement in the situation in the past several months," said Latheef, the party's chief spokesman in Colombo. |
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