Political Instability in the Maldives Could Have Regional Fallout

Deposed President Mohamed Nasheed’s ouster was a defeat for democracy and a victory for conservative Islamism in the Maldives. But the resulting political instability in the Indian Ocean archipelago threatens to exacerbate regional rivalries in which the strategically located island nation has increasingly figured. The apparent coup d’état on Feb. 7 was triggered by Nasheed’s move to arrest the chief justice of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed. Nasheed accused Mohamed of blocking a graft probe against Abdul Maumoon Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives for 30 years until Nasheed unseated him in the country’s first democratic election in 2008. But the […]