Days of a facade republic are over, says president

President Mohamed Nasheed has said a Maldivian ruler would no longer be able to govern the country as a false republic under a facade of democracy.

In his address to the nation on Republic Day, which also marks the one year anniversary of the first democratically elected government, the president said that a democratic republic was the solution to the slavery and oppression of history.

“Therefore, God willing, no Maldivian ruler would be able to govern a republic in name only,” he said. “That uncivilised tradition was washed away from these shores by you, by the beloved people of Maldives, by Dhivehin.”