( CNN ) -- Police attacked the former Maldives president Wednesday , beating him up a day after he stepped down , the Maldivian Democratic Party said . `` We strongly condemned the violent attack by the Maldivian Police Service on President ( Mohamed ) Nasheed and senior officials of the MDP , '' the party said in a written statement . `` President Nasheed is being beaten up as of now in an ongoing peaceful protest . '' Four members of Parliament were detained as violence gripped the nation 's capital , Male , lawmaker Eva Abdulla said , and the head of the party was hospitalized in critical condition . Police sprayed tear gas and beat demonstrators with batons , she said , and the violence left some protesters bleeding in the streets . `` It 's absolute lack of order at the moment , '' she said . `` Nobody seems to be in charge . '' Police could not be immediately reached for comment . Earlier Wednesday , Nasheed had called for his successor to leave office , saying he was forced to resign in a coup . Nasheed resigned Tuesday after a revolt by police officers . Vice President Mohammed Waheed Hassan was sworn in as president shortly after Nasheed resigned . Nasheed was the first democratically elected president of the Indian Ocean nation in three decades . In a nationally televised address , he said he was stepping down because he did n't feel he was able to maintain security and peace in the country , which attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year . `` We 're urging the government and the political parties to work together to resolve the situation peacefully and we 're continuing to monitor the situation , '' U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Wednesday . She said U.S. envoy Robert Blake would make a stop in Male on Saturday as part of previously scheduled trip to the region . Strategically located in the Indian Ocean but extremely poor , the Maldives is threatened by rising sea levels . Nasheed once held a Cabinet meeting underwater , with ministers wearing scuba gear , to highlight the problem . CNN 's Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report .
Parliament party says police targeted him with a `` violent attack '' A lawmaker says hundreds of thousands members of Mohamed Nasheed 's have been abducted . The former president is calling his ouster a coup . Nasheed was the first democratically elected president in a day .