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| India-Pakistan |
| Maldives leader appoints niece as foreign minister |
| 2013-11-20 |
| [Pak Daily Times] The new leader of the Maldives has appointed the daughter of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as foreign minister, an official said on Tuesday, underscoring the family's renewed influence in the country. In case you're wondering what happened: They had a relatively mild dictator--Gayoom--for something like 30 years. Then they had an election. The dictator's family wasn't pleased with the results. Gayoom's family organized a coup "to protect Islam" that tossed Nasheed, the guy who was elected. They had another election. The Nasheed party almost made it--I'm guessing there was the usual vote rigging; they trumped up some charges and had him tossed into the slammer in the course of the election. The guy they have now is half brother to the dictator so they're back to the old "stability" thing. President Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of Gayoom who ruled for 30 years till 2008, named Dhunya Maumoon, 43, to the post in his first appointments Sunday before forming a full cabinet later, the official said. ...and I'm sure there's no one more competent to fill the job than His Excellency's favorite niece. "The foreign ministry is crucial for the Maldives given the country needs to rebuild its international image after nearly two years of political unrest," said the senior administration official, asking not to be named. The election of Yameen, 54, in Saturday's run-off election ended nearly two years of turmoil in the honeymoon islands. The official said the new president was considering requests from his coalition partners to fill more cabinet positions. Minister Maumoon, Yameen's niece, was deputy foreign minister in the government of Mohammed Waheed, who took power after his predecessor Mohammed Nasheed was toppled in what he called a coup in February 2012. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 This is the place that's going under the rising oceans soon, right? Or did The One make them stop rising? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2013-11-20 13:26 |