Former President Mohamed Nasheed issued a stark warning on Wednesday, asserting that pervasive corruption and escalating debt threaten to plunge more nations into turmoil if robust good governance is not swiftly implemented, following the collapse of several administrations.
On Tuesday, Nepal’s President and Prime Minister tendered their resignations amidst a controversial bill to restrict social media, widely perceived as an attempt to suppress revelations of corruption and malfeasance. This follows similar economic crises that led to the downfall of governments in neighboring Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Nasheed articulated that successive governments are succumbing to immense debt burdens, corruption, and systemic mismanagement. He stressed that without comprehensive debt restructuring and the establishment of sound governance frameworks, developing nations risk widespread instability and chaos.
"The world must wake up to this or face more chaos," he wrote.
Corruption, mismanagement, as well as excessive debt, are destabilising Govt after govt. Now Nepal. If developing countries can’t restructure their debts and bring good governance, no doubt we will see protests in more countries. The world must wake up to this or face more chaos.
— Mohamed Nasheed (@MohamedNasheed) September 10, 2025
It is pertinent to note that Nasheed's observations on governmental collapse resonate with his own experience, as he too resigned amidst civil unrest in the Maldives during his presidency. The events of February 7, 2012, were frequently characterized as a coup, although a comprehensive report by the Commission of National Inquiry concluded otherwise.
In 2022, the government of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in neighboring Sri Lanka collapsed. The nation faced severe economic distress and eventual bankruptcy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Public outcry led to widespread unrest for weeks, culminating in the resignation and departure of the country's leadership.
Bangladesh also witnessed the tumultuous end of Sheikh Hasina's protracted rule last year. The country is grappling with a severe economic downturn, exacerbated by heightened unrest following the enactment of a law granting preferential employment to military servicemen's families.
Most recently, on Tuesday, Nepal's President Ram Chandra Poudel, along with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, were compelled to resign and flee. The situation in Nepal became exceptionally volatile on Tuesday, with a video purportedly showing the country’s finance minister being subjected to torture widely circulated on social media.
Analysts contend that the turmoil across all three nations is fundamentally attributable to a rampant surge in corruption, theft, and embezzlement, while the populace endures the adverse effects of an economy that has progressively widened the socioeconomic disparity.