Dr Waheed “determined to be an honest broker”, claims Richard Branson in second blog post
29 Feb 2012, 9:44 PM
Multi-billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has written a second blog post on the political crisis in the Maldives, in which he says he now believes that President of the Maldives, Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, “had nothing to do with [the coup]. He watched the situation unfolding on television.”
The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has previously challenged Dr Waheed’s account that the events of the 7th were spontaneous, noting that the ‘December 23 alliance’ of eight political parties and a coalition of NGOs had met the then Vice President at his official residence, Hilaaleege, at 1:00am on January 31, and subsequently held a press conference pledging allegiance and urging him to assume control of the executive with the aid of the police and military.
Branson, Head of the Virgin business empire, said he had spoken on the phone to Dr Waheed, who told him he had appointed “a respected person” to examine the truth of what caused President Nasheed to “resign”.
Dr Waheed appointed former minister of defence and national security during President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom’s administration, Ismail Shafeeu, to head the inquiry commission, a move that led MDP to question its credibility.
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