Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed on Thursday agreed to demands for early elections, after taking power last week in what his ousted predecessor described as a coup d'etat. The island nation, set in the Indian Ocean, has endured a political stand-off since February 7 when protesters backed by police toppled Mohamed Nasheed, the Maldives' first democratically elected leader.
"The government will hold discussions with political parties to hold elections at an early date," Waheed's spokesman Imad Masoud told AFP in the capital Male. "The government will work towards creating conditions that will permit such early elections to take place... if necessary the government will consider any constitutional amends that need to be made."
Waheed previously planned to form a national unity government and hold scheduled elections by late 2013 - a proposal that had received the strong backing of the United States. The change of policy was likely to be seen as a victory for Nasheed, who has refused to accept the new administration and repeatedly called for elections to be held as soon as possible.
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