The cause of the president's resignation is a key point of contention. Nasheed initially said that he resigned to prevent the military and the police from clashing. But on Wednesday he said he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a "coup" by members of the military. Paul Roberts, Nasheed's communications adviser, corroborated the story, saying that some 50 soldiers escorted Nasheed to his office Tuesday, shortly before he resigned.
But former Vice President Mohamed Waheed, who was sworn in as president after Nasheed's resignation announcement, dismissed Nasheed's claims. "Do I look like someone who will bring about a coup d'etat?" Mr. Waheed said to reporters. "There was no plan. I was not prepared at all." Waheed called for a unity government, but Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party refused.
