Maldives health minister resigns amid political crisis
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Maldives state health minister Dunya Maumoon resigned Tuesday in an apparent protest against the arrest of her father, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, while appealing to the international community to help the Maldivian people overcome the weeks-long political crisis in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Dunya is also the niece of current President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, who earlier this month declared a state of emergency in a bid to strengthen his powers after the country's Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of Yameen's political opponents who had been imprisoned after convictions that were criticized for alleged due process violations.