Commonwealth must act on Maldives

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/10/commonwealth-must-act-on-maldives

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Following the violent coup d'etat in the Maldives and the arrest of former President Mohamed Nasheed (Report, 9 February), the Commonwealth must threaten to expel the Maldives unless full democracy is immediately restored, as it did when the military seized power in Fiji. President Nasheed won the first ever free elections in the Maldives in 2008. His government has helped put global warming at the centre of the international agenda and presided over the democratic evolution of his country. Now elements of the old Gayoom dictatorship, allied to corrupt businessmen and Islamacists, have sought to overturn this brave experiment in democracy. Their thugs have beaten up demonstrators and parliamentarians alike. It would also be heartening if the EU took a strong stance in support of democracy in the Maldives and ignores the astonishing observation from its delegation chief to the Maldives, Bernard Savage, who has claimed: "At this stage, given our information, we would not say that there has been any legal infringement of constitutional norms." The EU must also threaten tough sanctions until Nasheed and his supporters are freed and returned to government.

While the UK government may wax on about the importance of democracy, this hasn't prevented David Cameron from parading the nonsense that Nasheed somehow stepped down of his own volition. Not long ago the prime minister declared that Mohamed Nasheed was "my great new friend". On the basis of his performance so far, who would want to be Cameron's friend? The "Maldives spring" pre-dated the Arab spring and the long-suffering Maldivians surely deserve a whole lot better from the international community. The mealy mouthed response from Britain (the former colonial power), in particular, just will not do. Diplomatic relations should be suspended until the rule of law is re-established and political prisoners released.<br /><strong>Mark Seddon </strong><em>Former editor, </em><em>Tribune</em><br /><strong>Glyn Ford </strong><em>Former foreign affairs spokesman, European parliamentary Labour party </em>