Maldives declared a state of emergency for a month starting from 12 pm local time on Wednesday. Several constitutional freedoms have been suspended. 

Maldives President Abdulla Yameen issued an executive decree calling for an emergency citing threat to national security. 

The move comes after an explosive device was found close to the President's official residence. On Monday, a bomb was found in a parked vehicle near Yameen's residence and was deactivated by security forces. 

"Maldives declares State of Emergency for 30 days as per Article 253 of the Constitution : threat to national security," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives tweeted. 

In September, a blast on a boat that was bringing President Yameen from the airport to the capital city of Male injured several people, including his wife. 

Yameen had called the incident "an act of greed to attain power".

Maldives Vice President Ahmed Adeeb was arrested along with eight other people for a conspiracy to assassinate the president. 

The emergency has led to the suspension of 'Freedom of Assembly Act', which comes just two days before the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) was scheduled to carry out a protests against the government. 

Several other constitutional freedoms will remain suspended for the next 30 days, including 'right not to be arbitrarily detained, arrested or imprisoned' and 'freedom to leave the country'.