Maldives: Waheed to announce his cabinet soon

Male: Maldives new President Mohamed Waheed Hassan is likely to announce his "national unity" cabinet soon and has ordered a probe into the recent events that unfolded in this archipelago nation.

"The cabinet is likely to be announced in two or three days," a senior Maldivian government official said. Waheed called for chaos on the streets to stop and to restore peace and calm.

"The way of responsible leaders is not (to) cause strife among the people. The way of responsible leaders should be to resolve disputes peacefully through dialogue," he was quoted as saying in a statement released by his office.

Soon after taking over as the new President, Waheed had announced the appointment of retired Colonel Mohamed Nazim as the Defence Minister and lawyer Mohamed Jameel Ahmed as the Home Minister.

"Even though the appointment of a national unity cabinet is taking time, the president made these two urgent appointments to take charge and control the spread of violence since Wednesday evening," Presidential aide Mohamed Shareef had said on Thursday when the appointments were made.

Incidentally, both the new ministers are said be hard on India.

The picturesque country has been marred with political instability and violence since Nasheed resigned and his Vice President took charge.

Waheed was sworn in on Tuesday just hours after his predecessor announced his resignation in a televised press conference.

At a press conference held on Saturday for the local media at the President's Office in Male, Waheed, "announced an investigation into the events that took place in the country from January 14 to February 8, 2012."

He added as the country's economy depends on tourism, it is important that the country maintains its good image as a peaceful country.

He further re-assured that life and property of all citizens will be protected, according to the statement.

He also said the previous government's projects and programmes that are beneficial to the people would continue.

The president announced that his administration would give a high priority to reinstate the civil service salary and implement court rulings on employment disputes over the years.

Waheed also urged all political parties and leaders to put forward national interest before politics.