In recent weeks, the Maldives has been experiencing political turmoil after Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb was arrested after being accused of being the mastermind in an alleged plot to assassinate the president by blowing up the boat the president would be in.
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Yameen’s former vice president and running mate in the November 2013 election, Mohamed Jameel, was impeached in July while he was overseas and has not returned to the country.
The impeachment motion received 61 votes in favor and none opposed in the 85-member Parliament on Thursday.
It comes two days ahead of the planned demonstration by the nation’s major opposition, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Ibrahim Muaz Ali, a spokesman for the president, said the state of emergency was declared on the recommendation of the National Security Council.
Fifty-seven votes were required to impeach the vice president.
It follows the arrest of the vice president on October 24 on treason charges.
The ruling coalition had filed the impeachment motion against Ahdeeb on Tuesday, with the signature of 52 parliamentarians, including members form the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), its coalition partner Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA) and Jumhooree Party (JP).
The law aimed to deal with Maldivians sympathizing with the Islamic State group and if found guilty, Adeeb could face up to 25 years in jail.
They also maintained that “despite state of emergency, situation in the Maldives remains calm and normal”.
In an address on Maldives’ Victory Day, Yameen had left suggestions that his government would declare a state of emergency.
However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S. investigated the blast and said it found no evidence that it was caused by a bomb.
John Kerby, a US State Department spokesman, said: “The United States calls on the government of Maldives to restore immediately full constitutional freedoms to its citizens by terminating the state of emergency”.
The government said Gayoom was not sitting in his usual seat on the boat and thus was not hurt by the blast, which injured his wife, an aide and a bodyguard.
Another explosion device was found near the president’s official residence and was safely defused by the military.
It further said the measures adopted in the SoE includes temporarily suspension of freedom from restraint, assembly, movement and establishment, and right to privacy and strike.
“The state of emergency in the popular Indian Ocean tourist destination is to last 30 days, the ministry said, citing a national security threat”.
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Political infighting has led to growing unrest.
