MALE: The Maldives government accused five of its lawmakers on Wednesday (August 18) of plotting to overthrow it, a charge political opponents said was an excuse to weed out reformists and would delay promised democratic change.

The government of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia's longest-serving ruler, last week detained more than 180 activists from among thousands who demonstrated to demand the release of political prisoners in the island cluster holiday paradise best known for white sand beaches and coral reefs.

But with a state of emergency and night curfew in place and police posted on street corners across the capital, Male, demonstrators say they are too scared to resume their protest.

"This was a deliberate attempt to overthrow the government. Those people have vital information," government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed said of the five detained members of the Special Majlis -- a constitutional assembly charged with implementing the reform programme Gayoom unveiled in June.

Gayoom clamped a state of emergency on the predominantly Muslim nation of 300,000 on Friday after police used tear gas and truncheons to break up the protests. That gave the government the right to detain protesters without charge and denied them access to lawyers when arrested.

The bespectacled 66-year-old leader has vowed to limit the term of the presidency, allow rival political parties to operate and to strengthen the judiciary after a riot last year highlighted brewing discontent with his 26-year rule.

Opposition activists say the way Gayoom -- whose rule has seen the archipelago sprawled over 500 miles (800 km) in the Indian ocean turn into a luxury tourist mecca -- handled the protest just proves he wants to keep a stranglehold on power.

"I think the president will have a rubber-stamp parliament. The opposition members are now in jail. They will have a by-election to get pro-government members elected to fill the vacant seats," said one opposition activist in Male who did not want to be named for fear of arrest.

Shaheed said the government was committed to implementing its promised reforms.

"We recognise if the government is seen as slow on this there will be resentment," he said in the leafy courtyard of Gayoom's seaside office and residence.

"The security question is the first question," he said, adding the government was waiting to see whether charges would be pressed against the five detained lawmakers before deciding whether to reconvene the assembly they belong to.

Some analysts caution Gayoom's reforms will take some time to filter down.

Courtesy Reuters