Maldives President Abdula Yameen's office announced on Tuesday that the state of emergency that was extended earlier in the day by a month is not applicable to law-abiding citizens and visitors.
According to one of two statements issued late on Tuesday by Yameen's office, the South Asian archipelago nation's parliament has approved "to extend the state of emergency by an additional 30 days in so far as it shall only apply to those alleged to have carried out illegal activities - it shall not apply to otherwise law abiding residents of, or visitors to the Maldives".
This comes even as India said earlier on Tuesday that it expected the emergency in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation not to be extended and that after its revocation of the emergency, democratic institutions including the judiciary should be allowed to function independently and in a fair and transparent manner in accordance with the Constitution.
However, the Maldives Parliament on Tuesday extended the state of emergency by 30 days after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on National Security approved the extension on Monday in view of Yameen's request while easing constitutional restrictions.
The new state of emergency will end on March 22.
According to a statement issued by the Maldivian President's Office on Tuesday, the parliamentary committee also decided that the Articles in the Constitution related to removal of the President or Vice President, vote of no confidence for a member of the cabinet, jurisdiction of the Supreme Court on the impeachment of the President, and removal of the Prosecutor General from office "would no longer be restricted" upon the extension of the emergency.
--IANS
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