(Image Source: BBC/ TVM)

BY SCOTT MACDONALD

ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS

After nearly a month of protests culminated in a police and civilian mutiny on the streets Tuesday, the president of the Maldives has resigned his position. Here’s Euronews.

“President Mohamed Nasheed announced his resignation after rebel police took control of the state broadcaster... Vice President Waheed Hassan stepped up to the top job.”

Nasheed faced no shortage of problems during his more than three years in office, from rising sea levels threatening to wipe out the islands to growing heroin addiction among youth. But open outrage came after a controversial arrest, according to Al Jazeera.

“It all began three weeks ago, after the country’s top criminal judge was taken into custody after he ordered the release of an imprisoned opposition leader and former minister. The government accused the judge of being an agent of the former president....”

Nasheed went against court rulings to arrest the judge. Even Vice President Hassan took to his blog to denounce Nasheed’s actions. But it’s unclear whether the support for the judge was influenced by the country’s former president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Mark Lynas, a climate-change adviser to the Maldives, criticized Gayoom’s “thugs” in the Guardian.

“The former dictator Gayoom and his forces never accepted the outcome of the 2008 elections, and their networks of power and influence were increasingly threatened by Nasheed's campaign against corruption in the judiciary.”

In 2008, Nasheed became the first democratically elected president of the island nation, which is located in the Indian Ocean. He replaced Gayoom, who in the past had imprisoned Nasheed for a total of six years over two decades. Minivan News reported that protests began in the capital Tuesday morning and quickly grew violent. Police dispatched to quell the violence actually joined with the demonstrators, who soon set their sights on the state TV station.

“Opposition protesters and police supporters subsequently took over the Maldives National Broadcasting Commission (MNBC) and began streaming VTV over the station. The channel was later rebadged ‘TVM’, its name under Gayoom’s government.”

The Hindu explains that the nature of the protests evolved throughout the day.

“If the morning started with the ‘coup’ word being bandied about by observers, by evening the entire transition appeared orderly with Parliament endorsing the changeover and the streets of the capital city, Male, appearing calm even if vigorously policed.”

In a televised address Tuesday, Nasheed said:

"I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power. I believe that if the government were to remain in power it would require the use force which would harm many citizens.”

Hassan, the new president, has urged citizens to “avoid chaos” in order to keep the Maldives’ crucial tourism industry in good shape. The British government advised its citizens to avoid all but essential travel in the capital of Male until the crisis has passed.