Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

New Delhi, Aug. 14: Members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) seek India’s intervention in restoring democracy in the republic where President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom declared a state of emergency late last night.

The MDP leaders, who are planning to come to New Delhi to seek India’s intervention, said Gayoom should immediately stop the “repression” against his people.

Diplomatic circles here believe that the decision to impose emergency in the Maldives is a desperate attempt by Gayoom to establish control in the face of rising demands by his opponents to restore democracy.

Gayoom has been the President of Maldives — a country with more than 1190 islands — since 1978.

Even though Gayoom’s methods of running the country has often been questioned, during the past few months he cracked down heavily on MDP members, jailing many of them and driving the rest out of the country.

In the past few days, rising cries for democracy and street demonstrations led Qayoom to declare a state of emergency. During the mid-1980s when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, India had sent its troops to help Gayoom restore his authority after a coup by sections of the Maldivian army.

However, this time, there is nothing to suggest that New Delhi, under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, is willing to dump Gayoom and intervene in support of the democratic forces. It is, however, keeping a close watch on the situation in the Maldives.

“We have learnt about it. We are naturally concerned. We are watching the developments,” the foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna’s remarked, giving a clear indication of India’s stand.

According to agency reports, the Maldivian government justified the declaration of emergency, saying the step was taken to “prevent deterioration of law and order”.