The newly installed president of the Maldives is rejecting calls for a new election following last week’s coup. Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik replaced Mohamed Nasheed last week after what Nasheed described as an armed coup. Nasheed was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. On Sunday, Waheed said now was not the time for a new election.

Mohamed Waheed Hussain Manik: “I don’t agree that there is a need to go for a snap election at the moment, and we are not ready for it. The country is deeply divided. And we have—the political landscape has many potholes and deep rifts, and so these things have to be healed before we can actually have a meaningful free and fair election.”

Mohamed Nasheed has vowed to keep pushing for democracy in the Maldives.

Mohamed Nasheed: “I’m always worried about being arrested and beaten up and tortured. But we have to do what we have to do. I think the amount of the people that are always around us and the support that we are getting is creating a situation where it is very difficult for the police to drag me out.”