COLOMBO: The Indian Ocean atoll nation of the Maldives launched moves towards democratic reform, officials said on Wednesday, but dissidents complained the process had got off to a difficult start.

Two days after President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom lifted a state of emergency he brought in to crack down on political activists, a parliamentary session known as the Special Majlis opened in the capital island Male on Tuesday.

"With the lifting of the state of emergency and the resumption of the Special Majlis, there can be no doubt that the reform process is fully back on track," government spokesman Ahmed Shaheed said in a statement sent here.

He said Gayoom, president since 1978 and Asia's longest serving leader, was committed "to deliver this programme of historical democratic change" in the archipelago of 320,000 Sunni Muslims. However, dissidents based here said Tuesday's session ended abruptly with members unable to elect a chairman, the same issue that partly sparked the anti-Gayoom protests in August. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

Dissidents have welcomed Sunday's lifting of the emergency after two months, but said there could be no real change as long as the president remained the chief judicial officer.

The Sri Lanka-based Maldivian Democratic Party said Gayoom's decision could have an immediate impact on about 80 detainees, including members of parliament, but would not mean much to the rest of the archipelago.

"We welcome the lifting of the emergency but in practical terms it means very little to the Maldivians because the president is still the main judicial officer who can interpret laws," party spokesman Mohamed Latheef said.

He said the arrest and detention of anti-Gayoom suspects would not stop despite the end of the state of emergency. The emergency giving wide powers to Gayoom was declared on August 13 after thousands of people staged a demonstration in Male seeking democratic reforms the president himself had promised.

It was lifted after intense international condemnation and a European Union resolution seeking an aid embargo on Asia's most expensive tourist destination. The Maldivian government initially said it detained 185 people after the August protests but last month said only 78 people were in custody, including seven parliamentarians.

It was not immediately known how many remained in custody. The International Committee of the Red Cross was last week allowed access to people detained under emergency rule. -AFP