Dunya resigns over father's arrest

State Health Minister Dunya Maumoon has resigned from her post on Tuesday, being the second minister to resign since the political turmoil intensified in the country on the 1st of February, reported Reuters.

The news agency said Dunya Maumoon in a letter expressed her grief over her father, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's arrest after he had stood up against the State of Emergency declared by the current president and his half-brother Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on the 5th of February.

“Today, at this time of pain and crisis for both my family and my country, it is my sincere hope to see my father home at the earliest,” says Yumna.

Dunya is the second minister who has resigned from post after the political turmoil flooded the Maldives with nightly opposition protests calling for the implementation of a ruling passed by five judges at supreme court issuing the immediate release of all nine political detainees and the reinstatement of twelve unseated members of parliament.

“I therefore call upon the international community to support the Maldivian people to help us overcome this crisis and to build a stronger democratic system,” she said in the letter reviewed by Reuters.

Former President Gayoom, half-brother of current President Yameen, was arrested along with son, MP Faris Maumoon, and son-in-law Mohamed Nadheem.