A backlash against unprincipled politics

For the first time in its history, in the last two days Maldives is witnessing the difficulties of organised labour protests.

The private taxis that form the backbone of public transport in Male have stopped running claiming that recent increase of fuel price by the State Trading Organization is unjustified and are demanding that the price increase be rescinded.

Adding to the transport chaos in Male, on Monday all thirty five cabin crew staff of Maldivian Air Taxi (MAT) have walked out in protest at low pay.

Maldivian Air Taxi is one of two internal airlines offering transfers to tourist resorts, a vital transport link that is critical for tourism.

Tourism is the main industry of Maldives, contributing close to 20% of the GDP of this island nation of 1190 coral islands having a population of 360,000.

Male', the capital island of Maldives has one of the highest population concentrations in the world with more than one quarter of the entire Maldivian population living on it.

Although essential air taxi service has resumed, several of MATs twenty-two planes were grounded and many toursists have been inconvenienced.

Maldives can ill afford to have this kind of chaos when it is heavily dependent on the income that it gets from tourism.

There are no organised labour unions in Maldives, although there is no prohibition of such activity by law.

Collective bargaining is a new phenomenon that is just beginning to emerge out of necessity.

Maldives is among the low-lying small states that faces the threat of the imminent dangers of increasing sea level rise and climate change due to global warming.