Police have no right to political opinion, says president

Policemen do not have the right to political views as their job is to enforce the law, President Abdulla Yameen has said.

Speaking at a rally in the capital Malé, Yameen said policemen did not have the right to express their own opinions or their own assertions. He also reiterated that the opposition did not have any grounds to question the independence of the police service.

“The police force is not independent like the ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission). They are an enforcement agency. They have to enforce the law. There is no space for political ideology,” he said.

The president’s comments, aired on state broadcaster PSM and the privately run Channel 13, follow a backlash from the opposition after his spokesman said Yameen had personally directed police to arrest his nephew and opposition MP Faris Maumoon.