Central & South Asia
Maldives police break up opposition protest
Dozens reportedly injured as police violently disperse activists staging
protest over worsening economy.
Sangwon Yoon Last Modified: 01 May 2011 10:08
DRP activists demand President Mohamed Nasheed's exit over currency
depreciation (AFP)
Police in Maldives have used tear gas and batons to break up an anti-government
protest in the island country's capital Male, reportedly injuring dozens of
activists.
About 400 supporters of the former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom gathered in
Male on Saturday night, demanding the resignation of incumbent President
Mohamed Nasheed over Maldive's recent currency depreciation and worsening
economy, Nasheed's office said Sunday.
The demonstration began peacefully but turned into a riot when demonstrators
began trashing the streets, the Maldives police said.
"After we received some complaints from residents, the police approached
demonstrators to tell them to return home, and they began throwing stones and
bricks at the policemen," Ahmed Shiyam, Maldives police spokesman, told Al
Jazeera on Sunday.
"We had to use tear gas and batons to break up the crowd as it began smashing
shop windows," Shiyam said. The incident ended early Sunday morning with the
arrests of some vandals, he added.
The Maldivian government condemns the violent protest organised by Z-DRP, a
faction of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) led by Gayoom,
Mohamed Zuhair, the president's spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday.
Protesters' account
Protesters gave a different account, saying about 5,000 people attended the
demonstration and that dozens were "crushed brutally", DRP spokesman Mohammed
Shareef told the Associated Press news agency by phone.
Nasheed was elected president in the country's first multi-party election in
2008, ending Gayoom's 30-years of one-party rule, but the country has recently
struggled with soaring food prices and unemployment.
Gayoom leads the DRP, which accuses the Nasheed administration of wasteful
spending and financial mismanagement.
The Maldivian currency has recently depreciated after the rufiyaa's peg to the
dollar became unstable, affecting food and import costs.
"Like US President [Barack] Obama, President Nasheed inherited a terrible
economic situation, with huge bills and debts," said Paul Roberts, the
president's communication adviser. "You have to sometimes make difficult
decisions to improve the situation."
"But [Sunday's protest] isn't a huge outpouring of anger and neither like an
Arab Spring," he said. "There weren't thousands pouring out onto the streets."
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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