At press conference held at Male City Hall Nasheed alleged that the government had spent the first 100 days in power in allocating positions to members of pro-government political parties and had done nothing for the people. “We’re all thinking of the state the country is in and the question arises, for what purpose did they do this? Everything was progressing fine and an election was due next year, the why did they do this and halt the economy, reduce the number of investments made, slow the growth of businesses, destroy social security, allow brutality and increased detainment? Why drag us into this state of conflict?” he asked. Nasheed said that those who remained in power over the last 30 years could not digest the fact that they had lost power and had even come to power through an “coup” against the government was due to the fact that they knew they could not come to power through an electoral victory. Questioning the way the government is run he said that “everyone running the government is not something Maldivians are familiar with.” The people want a President and a government and a seven party cabinet running a country would be difficult according to Nasheed. Regarding the economy he said that it had come to a halt whereas it was growing fast and steady before and that the government is now finding excuses to stop several projects. “GDP growth in 2011 was if I remember correctly around nine percent, some estimates stated it as 10 percent. The 2008 budget deficit was at 44 percent but by the end of 2011 we had reduced it to seven percent and the estimate for 2012 was 9.7 percent. However the Finance Committee now expects a 27 percent budget deficit,” he said. He noted that the number of foreign investments had also declined in the Maldives and that given the current government is in a “tense state” the number of business start ups have declined and the business interactions have also been reduced and the number of registered hardware shops had also declined. The former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) backed government had estimated a National Income of MVR11.6 billion however the current government expects a reduced estimated amount of MVR9 billion, which means a loss MVR2.6 billion. “This (income) has been reduced because of increased government expenditure in different areas and due to the reduction in National Income. The condition of the Maldivian economy has deteriorated a lot,” he stressed. He also highlighted that the government in the last 10 days had arrested over 600 political activists and had charged around 100 of them while one person had been detained for more than 70 days. “We had seen brutality to degrees never seen before on February 8. We know the plans that was made on February 7 and the chants they yelled planning to kill me. The last leader in the Maldives to be handed over to the people was Mohamed Ameen, even then they did not kill him on the very day. But on February 7 I saw the preparations they were making to kill me and heard their instructions on how to kill me,” he claimed. The former President said that the people are becoming increasingly worried by the government’s efforts to halt the National Insurance Scheme ‘Aasandha’, new transportation, economic and tax systems. Of the National Enquiry Commission (NEC) set up by President Waheed to investigate how Nasheed was brought down from power he said that he believes the commission is independent after the changes brought about to the commission following pressure from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) is a green light to how no one can remain in power acquired through force. “I do not believe that the current members Dr Ibrahim Yasir and Ali Fawaz will stray from the set criteria. Some express concern regarding commission member Ismail Shafeeu and thus he is to leave the commission on May 31, and Mujthaba will replace him,” he said. Nasheed said that he believes Shafeeu is leaving the commission without much hassle in a spirit of patriotism. He said that commission should be composed of members the people approve and though there is a slight conflict he will soon find someone to represent his side in the commission. He also said that the government is acting out at the “last minute” and that when the time comes he hopes the government will hold an election this year itself. He concluded by saying that MDP is ready for an election and will rule through an electoral victory.