United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights has raised alarm over the status of the Maldives, stating the democracy was under ‘all-out assault’ in the country.

In a statement released over the state of emergency declared in the Maldives, the High Commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said this was alarming.

“The suspension of several functions of the judiciary and Parliament, and the restrictions on a series of constitutional rights, create a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the President,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said.

Reflecting on the State of Emergency, the suspension of several basic rights accorded in the Constitution and the arbitrary action taken since then, Al Hussain said that President Yameen had ‘usurped the authority of the State’s rule-of-law institutions and its ability to work independently from the executive’.

“The Maldives have seen in recent years attacks on political opponents, on journalists, on civil society and human right defenders, and what is happening now is tantamount to an all-out assault on democracy,” he warned.