Maldives, 2012 — forced resignation

Event Summary

On 7 February 2012 President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, the country's first democratically elected leader, resigned amid a police and military mutiny and weeks of protests, in circumstances that remain sharply disputed. The crisis had grown from Nasheed's order in January 2012 to have the military arrest a senior criminal court judge, Abdulla Mohamed, whom the government accused of blocking corruption cases, a move that triggered protests led by the opposition aligned with former longtime ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. On 7 February, after Nasheed ordered police and troops to subdue anti-government protesters, some police instead joined the demonstrators and clashed with the army.

Amid the chaos Nasheed submitted a handwritten resignation letter and announced on television that he was stepping down, saying he did not wish to rule by force or cause bloodshed. Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as president. The next day Nasheed reversed course, saying he had been forced out at gunpoint in a coup orchestrated with the knowledge of his vice president, a charge Waheed and the military categorically denied.

A national commission of inquiry later found no evidence of a coup or duress, a finding Nasheed's supporters and some foreign legal experts rejected.