Maldives president: I was forced to resign

Xinhua, February 9, 2012

Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed said on Wednesday that he was threatened to resign from the post of president by police force at gunpoint.

"I was forced to resign at gunpoint and there were guns all around me. They said if I don't resign they would not hesitate to use arms," Nasheed told media after participating in a meeting for the 100th anniversary of his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

If the people wanted a change, they could have got democracy going, but there was no democracy and the country's democracy is at extreme danger, said the former president.

Following the anniversary meeting, Nasheed, together with thousands of party supporters, took to the streets shouting slogans against newly appointed President Mohamed Waheed's government.

Following three weeks of protest against Nasheed over his order on the military to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, the chief judge of the Criminal Court, on Tuesday Waheed took over the post of president in Maldives claiming that the former president voluntarily resigned from his post.