The President’s Office has on Thursday morning lifted Maldives’ state of emergency, which stood for nearly 45 days, just hours before its expiration.

Azima Shakoor, legal affairs minister at the President’s Office, and Attorney General Mohamed Anil announced that the state of emergency has been lifted, effective from 12:00 PM on Thursday.

They revealed that the decision to lift the long standing state of emergency comes after security forces assured the president that they could maintain ‘stability’ in the nation without its authority.

The state of emergency, initially declared for 15 days on the night of February 5th, was extended by 30 days. The 45-day period would have officially ended by Thursday night. 

While the state of emergency’s initial declaration and extension have both been challenged over its legal validity, President Abdulla Yameen has used it to arrest and detain his political rivals as well as activists calling for his resignation.

The government has maintained that the declaration was a necessity, in order to foil a ‘judicial coup’ and hold the judiciary accountable.

Maldives was put under heavy scrutiny for its government’s decision, and both the United Nations and the European Union – as well as individual nations – have repeatedly called for it to lift the state of emergency.

Authorities arresting and keeping detainees in squalid conditions have added to the host of human rights abuses ongoing in the Maldives, and in the past month alone, multiple international organizations called on the government to stop the repression of political opposition, intimidation of journalists, and the violent crackdown on activists.