Fisheries Minister Mohamed Shainee, chair of the government’s initiative for inclusive dialogue with the opposition, has reiterated support for participation of the United Nations.

Minister Shainee, who revealed in a press conference on Monday that the government had been in secret talks with opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed, revealed this while answering questions from the press.

Shainee said, to a question about a UN official stating that President Abdulla Yameen denied Secretary-General António Guterres’ offer to mediate said dialogue, that a phone call between them had happened.

“We have been providing updates on the status of dialogue with the opposition to the both the UN and EU. A phone call between the secretary-general and the president did happen” Shainee said.

However, Shainee claimed the UN official’s comment had been misconstrued and that President Yameen supports UN participation in the ‘all-party-talks’, which is what the government’s initiated for dialogue has been referred to as.

Farhan Haq, from the UN department of Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, is quoted as having said this to Indian daily newspaper, the Hindustan Times.

“He offered to the President (Yameen) UN mediation but the President conveyed that mediation was not wanted at this stage,” the article on the Hindustan Times reads.

While the allied opposition parties have requested Secretary-General Guterres mediate the talks, Shainee on Monday denied being opposed to UN participation.

The opposition has denounced the government call for dialogue, which it says is an attempt to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Maldives, as a ploy to delude the international community.

The parties have stressed that mediation from an impartial and legitimate entity is the only way such dialogue can be credible and constructive.

However, Shainee said at Monday’s conference that the ‘all-party-talks’ have failed because of the opposition’s lack of sincerity.

Shainee said that the government has contentiously decided to include former President Mohamed Nasheed, who has been sentenced to thirteen years in prison for terrorism allegations and is technically a ‘criminal’, because it believes dialogue is important.