Ex-Maldives VP meets EU officials

Former Maldives Vice President and senior member of the opposition Jumhoorie Party Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed recently met with European Commission officials and briefed them about the prevailing political situation in his country.

According to the foreignaffairstoday.com web site, Dr. Jameel, who is currently living in exile in London, called on Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS), and other relevant EU officials.

Dr. Jameel used his meetings to reiterated that the present government in The Maldives , which is headed by President Abdulla Yameen,continues to suppress civil liberties and abuse the rights enshrined in the 2008 Maldivian Constitution.

He maintained that freedom of assembly has been prohibited, the independence of the judiciary has been delegitimised and the rule of law has been done away with.

Dr. Jameel, according to the web site, insisted that there has been a complete "muzzling" of the opposition by the Yameen Regime through a 'puppet' judiciary.

He said judges critical of the regime have been arrested and judicial processes set aside.

He said that this has resulted in the imprisonment of all opposition leaders on arbitrary charges of acting against the state in an alleged attempt to topple the government.

Dr. Jameel described President Yameen as a "quasi dictator", and is reported to have appealed to the European Union to impose an economic embargo on the Maldives.

Such an embargo, he was quoted by the web site, as saying, could be used as encouragement for the business sector to apply pressure on President Yameen to follow the rule of law and regain international trust.

The Maldives is a key tourist destination for wealthy travelers from across the world.

Dr. Jameel is also understood to have cautioned all about President Yameen's ability to manipulate others by saying all the right things, and telling political partners what they wanted to hear.

He also ruled out the possibility of free and fair elections ever taking place in The Maldives.

Dr. Jameel's interactions with the European External Service officials comes even Foreign Minister Dr. Mohamed Asim is leading a delegation to meet European Union officials this week.

But knowing that The European Union has strong interests in the stability of the South Asia region, and several of its member states hold strong ties with The Maldives for historical and tourism interests, it is very possible that Dr. Jameel's conversations will fall on deaf ears.

It is likely that the EU will continue to have an 'open-dialogue' with all parties concerned and will keep a close eye on the situation as elections approach.