President Dr Mohamed Waheed has said that the experience of the Maldives suggests that international organisations do not completely subject themselves to the same standards they set for member States.
The President made this remark in his speech at the High level segment on Rule of Law, on the margins of the 67th UN General Assembly. The President said that when national leaders responsible for upholding the law act with impunity, the rule of law fails. And that the Rule of law can exist only when it is measured equally for the most powerful as well as the weakest.
Underlining the Maldives’ experience in dealing with the powerful international actors in the past few months had not been pleasant, President Waheed said that it was regrettable that some powerful international actors have come out in public and instructed the Maldives to take certain measures contradictory to our laws. He also said that when those instructions were questioned, the Maldives was labelled as an uncooperative State, casting doubt on the country’s democratic credentials.
The President further said that placing the Maldives on an international watch-list without due process was “clearly punitive measures against a country whose economy is dependent on its image.”
Highlighting that the enactment of the 2008 constitution guarantees the separation of powers, a universal bill of rights, and a free media, the President however pointed out that this dramatic change in the legal, governance, constitutional, and administrative systems had subjected the Maldives to many challenges.
“In the face of all of these challenges, my Government remains committed to implementing the Constitution and uphold the rule of law, and to make it a way of life”, reiterated President Waheed.
