Clashes erupt in the Maldives as ousted leader describes forced removal

In the Maldives, violent clashes continue after Mohammed Nasheed stepped down from the presidency yesterday in what he and his supporters are calling a political coup. Today, videos and images show police using tear gas against protesters in the capital, Male. According to AFP and the Democratic Maldivian Party, Nasheed himself was injured in the clashes. Nasheed’s former vice president, Mohamed Waheed, who was sworn in as president yesterday called for the rule of law and appointed two high level positions: a minister of home affairs and a minister of defense and national security, according to the government website. Nasheed came to power in the first democratic elections in 2008 and campaigned against the threats of climate change to the Maldives, a small country of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean. For more we’re joined on the line by, Farah Faisal, former high commissioner of Maldives to the UK. She said she submitted her resignation just in the past hours. She’s now official spokesperson for the Maldivian Democratic Party. She’s on mobile phone in the UK.