First meeting of the All Party Talks retreat ends without any headway

First meeting of the three day retreat of the All Party Roadmap Talks ended last night without making much headway. It is believed that the participants of the Talks during the first meeting of the retreat in Bandos Island Resort and Spa had discussed the first item of the agenda which is to resolve the ongoing political strife in the country.
The main reason why the pro-government political parties had failed to reach a consensus with opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) after two and a half hours of debate was due to the fact that MDP refused to cease its ongoing political activities against the government.
MDP had claimed that it would continue to protest against the government which they believe is in power through a ‘coup detat’, while stressing that all its political activities were being carried out within the contours of democracy.
However, the pro-government parties had alleged that during the MDP activities at Usfasgandu area, members of the security forces have come under various attacks.
It has also been learned that MDP’s accusations that the government was in power through a ‘coup detat’ had sparked major conflict among the various interlocutors where the further use of the term ‘coup’ in the discussions of the Roadmap Talks also created much tension.
As the first meeting of the retreat ended without making much progress, the participants of the Talks had departed to Bandos yesterday evening with high hopes of a desirable outcome.
Prior to the departure to Bandos, Moderator of the Talks Ahmed Mujthaba expressed hope that the discussions away from the present political unrest in Male would yield a positive result despite the recent tension over the MDP occupied Usfasgandu area.
“Our hope is that such tension would not cast a shadow over the discussions as all participants are of the right intentions,” he added.
The mutually agreed agenda comprised of six items including finding a way to resolve the ongoing political conflict in the Maldives, determining the present condition of the State budget, finding out the issues that needed to be reformed within independent institutions and posts, dialogue with regard to amendments and new laws that needed to be passed and discussions pertaining to the amendments needed to the constitution.
In addition, the agenda included discussions related to the date of holding presidential elections. Tweet Bookmark Print Badge the Comments! Give badges to the best comments you see! You will get four badges a day 1 Comments To have full access to the interactive features available in Haveeru Online please register or sign in. or Post a Comment More Loading comments... Please wait