Dire Warning From Ousted Maldives President
ANDERSON: After three years in the making, a documentary called "The Island President" has just premiered. Must -- much has changed since the filming. Two months ago, the film's central character, Maldives' leader, Mohamed Nasheed, was ousted from office in what he calls a coup. CNN's Richard Roth caught up with the former president in the United States, where he's called on the international community to help restore democracy. Have a listen to this.</s>RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Turquoise seas and golden beaches. These are the idyllic scenes we associate with the Maldives. Not this.</s>ROTH: Violence erupted in the capital, Male, in February after President Mohamed Nasheed resigned in what he claims was a coup.</s>ROTH (on camera): Now, you said you were forced to resign, but the government denies that.</s>NASHEED: Yes. The government is the people who have perpetrated the coup, and therefore, it's natural that they would deny that they were trying to murder me. But if you look at the facts on the ground, it's very simple. This is a coup, and if this is not a coup, there's never been a coup in this world.</s>ROTH (voice-over): Nasheed, a former political prisoner, rose to power in 2008 when he won the country's first democratic elections. He claims police and military, still loyal to the former dictatorship of Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, were behind the coup, and he's been critical of US support for the new government.</s>ROTH (on camera): How unexpected was all of this for you?</s>NASHEED: Well, we've always understood that getting -- beating a person would be easier than getting rid of a system. Dictatorships are very entrenched, and they have tentacles and networks that go far beyond what is visible. But unfortunately, we -- it's difficult to understand why, for instance, the United States government so rapidly and quickly recognized the new government in the Maldives.</s>ROTH: So, what are you going to do to try to get back to the country that you love and have lived in for so long? Even if at times it was trapped in a shed on the beach as a political prisoner?</s>NASHEED: Well, I'll just simply go back, and then I believe that the people of the Maldives would not let me be taken by the police and the military. There's very strong support for us. Since the coup, the people have been out on the streets for the last seven weeks, every day, unrelentingly, and they don't seem to be getting tired at all.</s>ROTH (voice-over): The United States has called for a peaceful resolution and has agreed circumstances surrounding Nasheed's resignation need to be clarified.</s>MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, US STATE DEPARTMENT: We've been pressing for them to -- to address concerns about the transfer of power there.</s>ROTH (on camera): Why is it important that you return to be the leader again of the Maldives?</s>NASHEED: Not important at all. But it's very important to have elections in the Maldives and get democracy back on track.</s>ROTH (voice-over): The main reason for Nasheed's urgency is highlighted in "The Island President," a new film documenting his first year in office and fight against climate change. Nasheed has been relentless in his bid to be heard in the debate, even staging an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the need to reach a deal on carbon emissions. The Maldives sit just one and a half meters above sea level.</s>NASHEED: We already have 16 islands where we had to relocate them. We have more than 70 islands where there is serious water contamination issues. Our coral reefs are bleaching and dying. Reefs are the first line of defense for the islands form coastal erosion. The fish catch is dwindling. So, we have a whole host of problems to do with the environment, and this is an issue that is happening in the Maldives now. It's not something in the future. If we can't act now, we will not be around. And what happens to the Maldives today would happen to everyone else tomorrow.</s>ROTH (on camera): What do you see, then, still, as the biggest threat to your country right now. Is it political or is it environmental and the threat to climate change?</s>NASHEED: We have to have a planet to have democracy. We will only have the necessary policies to safeguard the climate if we have democracy.</s>ROTH (voice-over): To that end, the film also documents Nasheed's efforts to investigate corruption he claims was leftover from the old regime.</s>ROTH (on camera): Is this new government aware as much as you are of the environmental threat posed?</s>NASHEED: I think they are also aware of it, but they -- it would be difficult for them to articulate that as every time they start talking, people would point out the number of skeletons in their own closet.</s>ROTH: What can the Muslim countries that are now going through early democracy or struggling for it, what can they learn from what you achieved in the Maldives?</s>NASHEED: Well, one thing is, it's easy to get rid of a dictator, but it's very difficult to get rid of a dictatorship. So, they will come back. Make no mistake, they will come back.</s>ROTH: Can the Maldives win against climate change?</s>NASHEED: Yes. I believe that we can win, and I am an optimist. I believe we should keep on fighting, and I believe that -- I believe in human ingenuity. I believe in humanity. People will come around to understand what is wrong and what is right.</s>ROTH (voice-over): Richard Roth, CNN, New York.</s>ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. When we come back, we meet the designers of London's new Olympic stadium and find out why it might not be a permanent fiture (sic) -- fixture on the city's landscape. I'll get my teeth in. We're going to take a short break.