Transcript of Press Conference by Assistant Secretary Robert O. Blake, Jr. at the American Center in Malé

February 11, 2012

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Thank you very much, Val.  I have a short statement that I’ll read and then I’ll be glad to take questions. 

First of all, let me just say how pleased I am to be back here in the Maldives.  I’ve been a frequent visitor here since I’ve been Ambassador and I’ve had a very productive range of meetings today. 

I had a chance to meet with President Waheed and with all of the key leaders of the main political parties.  I also had a very constructive meeting with members of civil society.  In all my meetings I expressed our concern about reports of violence and destruction of property by some MDP supporters and our concern about violence by police in Male, Addu, and Thinadhoo.  I stressed the importance of all parties and the government, exercising restraint, engaging in peaceful dialogue to resolve tensions, and respecting the constitution. 

Based on my talks I’m encouraged that a wide range of parties are engaged in talks to form a unity government and these talks are making progress.  Members of civil society told me that the country is not ready for early elections now because the police, election commission, and judiciary are not sufficiently prepared to ensure free and fair elections.

The United States hopes that the broadest coalition possible can be formed that would have a majority in parliament.  This coalition should then work with all parties to reform and improve the capacity of the judiciary, the police, and election commissions to ensure that elections can be held in an orderly and peaceful manner. 

The United States remains committed to working with all Maldivians to ensure a democratic and prosperous future for this important friend of the United States. 

So again, I’d be happy to take some questions on anything you’d like to talk about. 

Press:  Is the main reason for the [inaudible], is it because Nasheed changed [inaudible], he was thrown out?  Or is it because of [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  The United States is committed to working with the new government.  As our spokesperson said, there are some questions regarding the transfer of power that took place on February 7 and we believe that some sort of independent Maldivian mechanism should be formed to investigate that to reach a conclusion for the benefit of all Maldivians. 

Press:  Are you convinced that this new regime is constitutional?  Because according to President Nasheed there has been a lot of violations.  For instance, a small example in [inaudible] members of parliament as one of several procedures.  [Inaudible] constitutions of how do you usually get this [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Again, on the question of transfer of power, I’ve already talked about that. In terms of the transfer to the vice president, I think the Speaker of Parliament has already said he believes that was a constitutional transfer.  Again, that’s for Maldivians to make a judgment about. 

I would say it’s very important to the United States that all parties exercise restraint and refrain from violence. 

One of the political party leaders that I spoke with today said that Maldives now needs breathing space.  They need time to stop and reflect and get away from all of these nightly demonstrations that have been occurring, and again, reflect on the future and try to find a way forward that, again, will command a majority of all the parties.  And again, find a way forward that can ensure a peaceful and democratic future for the Maldives. 

Press:  Some explanation of parliament said [inaudible] was with the current government? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the question. 

Press:  Did the parliament tell Nasheed [inaudible] the government and [inaudible] work in the current government [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  It’s not for me to characterize the views of President Nasheed.  He’s quite capable of expressing his own views. 

Press:  Is it unusual to [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Certainly we hope that the MDP will work productively with the new parties.  I can tell you that I think a number of good ideas are now being explored to try to find ways to bring the MDP into this national unity government, but it’s up to the parties themselves to talk about those. 

Press:  Ambassador, you seem to suggest that there cannot be early elections in the Maldives, but parliament and Nasheed have made it very clear that [inaudible] elections, it’s not negotiable. So do you think there is a way forward given the position taken by the [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Yes. I think in a situation like this if you want to form a national unity government that has the participation of all parties including the MDP I think everybody has to compromise.  From what I’ve heard, there is a spirit of willingness in elements of all parties to try to find that compromise, so I certainly hope that they can, that in the days ahead that everybody again will engage in peaceful dialogue and look for ways to bridge their differences so that, again, a way forward can be found. 

Press:  Do you have a sense of when the national unity government will [inaudible] some of the [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  No, I don’t want to speculate on that.  Again, that will be up to the parties themselves to announce when the time comes. 

Press:  [Inaudible] elections, do you think [inaudible]?  Or do you think as former President Nasheed suggested after a period of a few months elections could be held?  [Inaudible] wait until 2013. 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  From what I heard, I don’t think anybody really believes that elections can be prepared right now because of some of the shortcomings that I described earlier, but that perhaps elections much later in the year could be announced.  But again, that’s something for all the parties themselves to try to think about and see if there’s support for that. 

Press:  Will you [inaudible] something that [inaudible] by [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  I met with all the parties including the former opposition parties.  Again, there is an opportunity now for all of them to work together, and again, I think a lot of good ideas are now being discussed among them and I hope that a way forward can be found. 

Press:  Ambassador Blake, [inaudible], what do you think some of the more [inaudible] or shall we say [inaudible]?  And can you describe that?  You were here when democracy was fully born.  What do you think now? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Obviously we strongly condemn all of the anti-Semitic words and other commentary that we’ve heard.  I think one of the really commendable things that the Nasheed government did was to work to improve relations with Israel and showed what a moderate and progressive government they were in many many ways.   So we really commended them for that.  Again, I think one of the things that Maldives has always been known for is that it is a progressive country that has not espoused the use of violence, that has not espoused extremism, and we very much hope that same tradition can be carried on now through these difficult times. 

Press:  Why is the U.S. not being more strongly forcing a democratic government [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Again, your characterization of whether that was a coup or not, I don’t know.  Some people say it was a coup, others say it was a peaceful constitutional transfer of power. That’s not for the United States to make a judgment about.  In our view that should be an independent Maldivian mechanism to make that judgment. 

Press:  [Inaudible] view on the incoming [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  That’s up to President Gayoom to decide.  No, we don’t have a view on that. 

Press:  So if an independent investigation does find that whichever [inaudible] is used to get [inaudible] out, is not constitutional, is [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Again, I don’t want to try to speculate about the future.  We’ll see what kind of judgment is made and then we’ll make our own judgments on the basis of that. 

Press:  What would you say about Nasheed’s statements that he is disappointed about U.S. [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Actually, President Nasheed today in my meeting with him expressed his appreciation for the recent statements we’ve made, so I think we’re in a good place about that. 

Press:  [Inaudible] outside [inaudible], people could be convinced that [inaudible] about [inaudible].  Doesn’t the [inaudible] democracy and [inaudible] certain [inaudible]?  We don’t know what really happened, but most people are going to listen to [inaudible]. 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  No, there’s no double standard whatsoever.  We want to see the highest standards of democracy everywhere including here in the Maldives.  Again, the circumstances surrounding the transfer of power remain very much open to debate.  We weren’t there.  We have no way of making our own judgment about that.  So again, it’s up to Maldivians themselves to find an independent mechanism that can make a judgment about that. 

Press:  To this extent may you [inaudible] here, instead of working on [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  That has been under consideration.  We, unfortunately, haven’t had the funding to do that.  But we do have people now in Colombo who are responsible and spend quite a great deal of time here.  So we are spending more time on the ground here.  And as I said earlier, Maldives is a very important friend and a very important country for the United States, and we remain very much committed to helping the people to ensure a democratic and prosperous future. 

Press:  Mr. Blake, what do you think about the precedent set by the involvement of police and the military personnel in the change of government that took place on Tuesday? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Again, I don’t want to speculate about what the involvement of the police and military was.  I would say as a general matter most of the people that I spoke with today believe that the police and the MNDF need to restore their credibility with the Maldivian people, and so one of the reforms that many people discussed, for example, was to figure out some sort of mechanism to oversee the police and to ensure that they are responding to civilian authority and that, again, there’s some sort of oversight board that can be constituted to ensure that they’re upholding the highest standards. 

Press:  Sir, your office, what did they bring to you about what’s going on in the outer islands, outside Male?  Have they [inaudible]?   

Assistant Secretary Blake:  We’ve heard similar reports.  We’ve heard reports, for example, in Addu, that there were quite serious violations of human rights.  There were reports of beatings. There were reports that lawyers of those who were in detention have not had access to those in detention, so I think it’s very important that the current  government uphold the highest standards of human rights and again ensure that there’s a clear legal basis for any actions that are taken, and that of course detainees are treated fairly and have access to medical care and have access to their lawyers, and that they be charged promptly, within 24 hours, or at least that they be brought before a court within 24 hours as Maldivian law requires. 

So again, we hope all of those will be very clearly followed, because this is an important time for the government to show its commitment to these important rights. 

Press:  Do you feel [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  Not that I’m aware of.  I think there are quite a number of detainees, most of whom have been arrested as a result of the recent demonstrations and other violence that have occurred.  And again, we hope that the Maldivian constitution will be upheld in all these cases. 

I’ll take one more question. 

Press:  Ambassador, you were here in 2008 when [inaudible]? 

Assistant Secretary Blake:  I would say that in a place like Maldives this is a temporary challenge that they’re going through.  People forget that this is a country that had its first real constitution, democratic constitution, 2008.  All of these same people now who are talking were involved in crafting that constitution and preparing what were then the freest and fairest elections in Maldives history.  Many of the institutions that now need to up hold democracy are still young institutions and they’re still in the process of developing the training of the personnel that needs to take place, capacity needs to be built.  So from time to time there will be setbacks.  What’s important is that those setbacks now be corrected and that the course of democracy be restored and again, that the next elections can be held in an orderly manner that ensures free and fair elections and again can ensure the support of the Maldivian people.  So, the United States will be a very, very strong partner in working to ensure those goals. 

Thank you all very much for your time.  It’s great to see you all.  Thank you.