President Dr Mohamed Waheed has called on former President Mohamed Nasheed to commit to dialogue within constitutional limits if he loves the country and desires the greater national interest.

In an exclusive interview given to the local TV station DhiTV, on Wednesday, President Waheed stated he would like to urge former President Nasheed to work together with all national stakeholders and come for negotiations without the precondition of an early election date.

President also appealed for calm and to work towards building public trust in important state institutions.

When asked if there was room for early presidential election in 2013, President reaffirmed that such possibility existed through constitutional amendments. He added he would not reject early election, if People’s Majlis could make the necessary constitutional amendments.

Asked about his work as Vice President during the past three years, President Waheed said he oversaw the government’s pledge to address the drugs problem.

President Waheed said positive results of his hard work could be seen as the drugs issue had been considerably controlled.

But President Waheed revealed a good working relationship between himself and President Nasheed had not existed, which meant President Nasheed had not discussed important matters with him, including government’s “Second Chance Programme”.

On the change of government on 7 February 2012, President Waheed said President Nasheed had resigned voluntarily and that his own assumption of office was constitutional.

When asked about the Cabinet resignation en mass in 2010, the President said President Nasheed has not asked him to resign.

However, he said when he inquired President Nasheed on the purpose of the dramatic resignation of the whole Cabinet, he was told that the purpose was to cause “great shock” among the people.

Asked if he believed former President Gayoom was behind Nasheed’s resignation, President Waheed said he did not believe so, but retorted the resignation was as a result of continuous public demonstrations and calls by the public for his resignation. He stressed that President Nasheed did not tell him that his resignation was under duress.

When asked how he would unite the country at this time of divisions, the President said he was working tirelessly to bring everyone together.

He said he could not do the task alone because satisfactory results could not be achieved if he attempted to work alone.

The President said what we witnessed over the past three years was the decisions of a single individual being imposed on all. He added that he would not work in that manner, but try to be inclusive.

The President expressed confidence that an inclusive political process would calm the political situation in the Maldives.