The people voted in the first multi-party contest and brought an MDP alliance to power. The era of voting for one candidate is over. We now face the challenges of a young democracy.
We need to have an educated citizenry that is aware of its rights and understands the new political process. The rule of law through the independent judiciary has to be the bedrock of our economic development. Our government has to go beyond its dependency on rent-seeking of the tourist resorts. It has to redistribute wealth by allocating financial resources to create diverse economic development in the disadvantaged islands. Political openness and decentralisation which the MDP alliance has embarked on is a step in the right direction. Thus, the present government is moving away from giving favours like granting state loans to special interests who support politicians and keep them in power. The media has to play a vigorous role to educate the citizens who in turn must engage in the political process.
The emergence of independent democratic institutions can help to advance the concept of personal freedom and individual choice.
An ingenious idea has been floated by the vice president Mohamed Waheed hassan Maniku. Global warming and sea level rise could inundate the Maldive Islands in 100 years. As a long term strategy, the VP suggested to create a sovereign wealth fund, modelled on those established in oil-rich Middle Eastern states. Presumably the purpose of the Maldives sovereign wealth fund will be to buy land in another country to house stateless Maldivians. (Source)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Defining Moments 2008
Maldivians have endured the hypocrisy and double standards of elected leaders for thirty years. The lingering legacy of the outgoing fascist regime's 'divide and rule' concept is deeply entrenched in today's society. The present coalition government's politicians are struggling to work in unity for the common cause of governing the nation. They only know how to work in their self interest. These politicians have no real desire for public service. They are there to seek power and profit.
Given that democracy is a system of rule by laws and not by individuals, we have just begun the task of governing according to democratic principles. As a first step we have removed the one-man rule system that prevailed in Maldives up to now. For the first time in our history multiple parties contested and we have chosen our government through a free and fair election.
This is a turning point in our history. Now it is time for elected leaders to be held accountable for their policies and conduct in office.
Since power flows from the people to the elected leaders in a democracy, the active participation of citizens is necessary in politics. Whereas in the past we were coping in blissful ignorance, now we, the citizens through our representatives in parliament should observe and criticise on how the government is run. The civil society also has to engage in the political process as a check on the affairs of the government. The civil society would include groups of different interests like workers, businessman, fishermen, doctors, teachers, professionals and students.
If we go by the behaviour of our politicians in the past, we know that our nascent democracy is fraught with difficulties. This year marks the end of the painstakingly slow process of revising our constitution. What was praised as a world class document and completed in 17 years had to be revised dramatically after a few years. Another three years and millions of rupees later, we now have a revised constitution. It is time to practice what is in the constitution. The government has to be trustworthy and the people have to be free and independent. One of the important pillars of a democracy is the free press. Journalists need to scrutinize public policy and inform the public and the public needs to engage in the political process. Elections need to be held at regular intervals and the public need to exercise their vote.
We appear to be on the right path now. It took thirty years to destroy our values and plunder our wealth through mismanagement and corruption. Although democracy has finally arrived, a lot of hard work needs to be done.
Given that democracy is a system of rule by laws and not by individuals, we have just begun the task of governing according to democratic principles. As a first step we have removed the one-man rule system that prevailed in Maldives up to now. For the first time in our history multiple parties contested and we have chosen our government through a free and fair election.
This is a turning point in our history. Now it is time for elected leaders to be held accountable for their policies and conduct in office.
Since power flows from the people to the elected leaders in a democracy, the active participation of citizens is necessary in politics. Whereas in the past we were coping in blissful ignorance, now we, the citizens through our representatives in parliament should observe and criticise on how the government is run. The civil society also has to engage in the political process as a check on the affairs of the government. The civil society would include groups of different interests like workers, businessman, fishermen, doctors, teachers, professionals and students.
If we go by the behaviour of our politicians in the past, we know that our nascent democracy is fraught with difficulties. This year marks the end of the painstakingly slow process of revising our constitution. What was praised as a world class document and completed in 17 years had to be revised dramatically after a few years. Another three years and millions of rupees later, we now have a revised constitution. It is time to practice what is in the constitution. The government has to be trustworthy and the people have to be free and independent. One of the important pillars of a democracy is the free press. Journalists need to scrutinize public policy and inform the public and the public needs to engage in the political process. Elections need to be held at regular intervals and the public need to exercise their vote.
We appear to be on the right path now. It took thirty years to destroy our values and plunder our wealth through mismanagement and corruption. Although democracy has finally arrived, a lot of hard work needs to be done.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Happiness is contagious!
In a study that looked at the happiness of nearly 5,000 individuals over a period of 20 years, researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego, found that one person’s happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only their friends, but their friends’ friends, and their friends’ friends’ friends. The effect lasts for up to one year.
The flip side, interestingly, is not the case: Sadness does not spread through social networks as robustly as happiness. Happiness appears to love company more so than misery.
Read more about this research on Harvard.
The flip side, interestingly, is not the case: Sadness does not spread through social networks as robustly as happiness. Happiness appears to love company more so than misery.
Read more about this research on Harvard.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
Mute response to deter street killings
Tackling gang violence is not a “police problem” and there are limits to investigating gang-related crime, according to the assistant commissioner of police.
So the police have constraints and the Government is looking for excuses to pass the blame.
The Gayoom government made sure that it addicted our youth to illegal drugs by taking a lax attitude to drug trafficking during the last thirty years. Many Maldivians accuse some leading officials of the Gayoom government of conniving with the drug traffickers to benefit financially. This is the reason why the Gayoom Government did not have the political will to stop the menace of the illegal drug trade. The explosion of street violence has a direct link to the widespread abuse and addiction to the illegal drugs.
President Nasheed's MDP campaigned to clean up this mess.
But the way to do that is not to pass the buck from one to another.
The feuding street gangs are settling the final score by killing each other.
The suspects in the last two street murder cases of Ali Ishar and Shifau Ismail were released a month before presidential elections on court order. No one has been charged in court for these murders yet.
To provide safety for the people, the police will have to crack down hard on such violent street gangs and the legal system will have to impose appropriate deterrent sentences without delay. Justice delayed is justice lost.
Nasheed's government will be failing to provide safety to the citizens if it does not take tough action immediately to stop this deadly violence.
link:Minivannews
So the police have constraints and the Government is looking for excuses to pass the blame.
The Gayoom government made sure that it addicted our youth to illegal drugs by taking a lax attitude to drug trafficking during the last thirty years. Many Maldivians accuse some leading officials of the Gayoom government of conniving with the drug traffickers to benefit financially. This is the reason why the Gayoom Government did not have the political will to stop the menace of the illegal drug trade. The explosion of street violence has a direct link to the widespread abuse and addiction to the illegal drugs.
President Nasheed's MDP campaigned to clean up this mess.
But the way to do that is not to pass the buck from one to another.
The feuding street gangs are settling the final score by killing each other.
The suspects in the last two street murder cases of Ali Ishar and Shifau Ismail were released a month before presidential elections on court order. No one has been charged in court for these murders yet.
To provide safety for the people, the police will have to crack down hard on such violent street gangs and the legal system will have to impose appropriate deterrent sentences without delay. Justice delayed is justice lost.
Nasheed's government will be failing to provide safety to the citizens if it does not take tough action immediately to stop this deadly violence.
link:Minivannews
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Reforms could turn on its head
First, condolences to the family of the young man, Samir Abdul Mueen, who was killed by gang violence in Male' yesterday.
President Nasheed's government has had enough time to initiate tough action to hunt down the leading thugs of gangster groups responsible for such violence and lock them up after due process of the law. But this government like the previous Gayoom government is soft-pedalling and we have lost one more person to the senseless violence. Unless these insane criminals are sternly dealt with, no one is safe in Maldives.
The campaign promises of MDP for a good life in the 'other Maldives' can only be realised if the coalition leaders exercise good judgement and take timely action. The recent incident of sending riot police to remove 13 striking workers from an operating resort has shown the lack of sound judgment of the former home minister Gasim Ibrahim, a key partner in the MDP coalition.
The striking workers are not the nation's enemies. The strike would not have gone to that extent if not for the inaptitude of the resort management.
If such incidents get repeated in the tourist resorts, Maldives will turn into a pariah paradise. Managements and workers have to find a way to work amicably and resolve disputes in civility.
The Maldivian peoples vote has defeated the mass manipulators of Gayoom's fascist government who deprived the people justice and their rights for thirty years.
Urgent measures must be taken now to restore the public's trust on the government.
President Nasheed has personally suffered the torture and injustice of a brutally unjust government. Many people have lost their lives in unexplained and questionable circumstances in the state's prisons. Even Evan Naseem's murderers convicted by the court to death are roaming free in Male' instead of being locked up.
President Nasheed has only a short honeymoon to put things right. I agree that he should call for dignity and respect to the former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as he has done. But as our president, he also has to be the leading voice calling to bring to justice those who perpetrated serious crimes with incriminating evidence.
During MDP's campaign Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, the current special envoy to the president spoke about creating a "truth and reconciliation committee" to start the healing process. Nothing has been done on this promise as though it is not urgent enough.
President Nasheed got elected because the majority of Maldivians wanted change and a just government. Many believe that president Nasheed has good intentions. But good intentions without decisive and strong leadership will not deliver the promised changes. While ministers should have the authority to work independently and be held accountable, the president should be kept informed timely of such situations as the deployment of riot police to use force against the public.
To make governing more difficult, president Nasheed has to muddle through coalition politics. We knew the challenges are formidable but failure should never be considered an option due to our desperate plight.
President Nasheed's government has had enough time to initiate tough action to hunt down the leading thugs of gangster groups responsible for such violence and lock them up after due process of the law. But this government like the previous Gayoom government is soft-pedalling and we have lost one more person to the senseless violence. Unless these insane criminals are sternly dealt with, no one is safe in Maldives.
The campaign promises of MDP for a good life in the 'other Maldives' can only be realised if the coalition leaders exercise good judgement and take timely action. The recent incident of sending riot police to remove 13 striking workers from an operating resort has shown the lack of sound judgment of the former home minister Gasim Ibrahim, a key partner in the MDP coalition.
The striking workers are not the nation's enemies. The strike would not have gone to that extent if not for the inaptitude of the resort management.
If such incidents get repeated in the tourist resorts, Maldives will turn into a pariah paradise. Managements and workers have to find a way to work amicably and resolve disputes in civility.
The Maldivian peoples vote has defeated the mass manipulators of Gayoom's fascist government who deprived the people justice and their rights for thirty years.
Urgent measures must be taken now to restore the public's trust on the government.
President Nasheed has personally suffered the torture and injustice of a brutally unjust government. Many people have lost their lives in unexplained and questionable circumstances in the state's prisons. Even Evan Naseem's murderers convicted by the court to death are roaming free in Male' instead of being locked up.
President Nasheed has only a short honeymoon to put things right. I agree that he should call for dignity and respect to the former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as he has done. But as our president, he also has to be the leading voice calling to bring to justice those who perpetrated serious crimes with incriminating evidence.
During MDP's campaign Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, the current special envoy to the president spoke about creating a "truth and reconciliation committee" to start the healing process. Nothing has been done on this promise as though it is not urgent enough.
President Nasheed got elected because the majority of Maldivians wanted change and a just government. Many believe that president Nasheed has good intentions. But good intentions without decisive and strong leadership will not deliver the promised changes. While ministers should have the authority to work independently and be held accountable, the president should be kept informed timely of such situations as the deployment of riot police to use force against the public.
To make governing more difficult, president Nasheed has to muddle through coalition politics. We knew the challenges are formidable but failure should never be considered an option due to our desperate plight.
Friday, December 05, 2008
50 million rufiya to oust Gayoom
News reports citing the Commissioner of Elections in Maldives revealed the following amounts spent on the campaign for the recently concluded presidential election.
Gayoom's DRP 33.2 million
Nasheed's MDP 29.9 million
Gasim's Republic 13.9 million
Hassan Saeed 2.8 million
Umar Naseer's IDP 1.5 million
Ibrahim Ismail's SLP 1.8 million
The different parties that campaigned in the presidential election to oust Gayoom's Government had one thing in common. They all wanted to defeat the Gayoom Government that ruled the Maldives for thirty years.
Why did we need the party system? We are told by the politicians and political pundits that multiple parties are needed to enhance democracy.
Political parties came into being in Maldives in order to find a method to escape the tyranny from a fascist one party-government led by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who only supported the capitalistic elites for thirty years.
Now we have to learn about the shortcomings of the party system.
MDP coalition's Home minister Gasim Ibrahim resigned on Wednesday evening, after 22 days in office, stating the new administration failed to release funds for the improvement of prisons. Gasim’s announcement follows heavy criticism over a violent confrontation between police and protesting employees at the five-star One and Only resort. Gasim ordered police to go to the island.
Gasim's Republican party has not yet decided on their continued support for the MDP coalition.
Now the Republican party will be thinking of how to score political points within he MDP alliance or pull out from the government. MDP will think of political horse-trading to keep its government from falling.
In the United States, people are born into either Republican or Democratic families, almost like an inherited religion. Americans are getting tired of the abuses of the party system, and more and more are declaring themselves independent and moving away from the political parties.
Gayoom's DRP 33.2 million
Nasheed's MDP 29.9 million
Gasim's Republic 13.9 million
Hassan Saeed 2.8 million
Umar Naseer's IDP 1.5 million
Ibrahim Ismail's SLP 1.8 million
The different parties that campaigned in the presidential election to oust Gayoom's Government had one thing in common. They all wanted to defeat the Gayoom Government that ruled the Maldives for thirty years.
Why did we need the party system? We are told by the politicians and political pundits that multiple parties are needed to enhance democracy.
Political parties came into being in Maldives in order to find a method to escape the tyranny from a fascist one party-government led by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who only supported the capitalistic elites for thirty years.
Now we have to learn about the shortcomings of the party system.
MDP coalition's Home minister Gasim Ibrahim resigned on Wednesday evening, after 22 days in office, stating the new administration failed to release funds for the improvement of prisons. Gasim’s announcement follows heavy criticism over a violent confrontation between police and protesting employees at the five-star One and Only resort. Gasim ordered police to go to the island.
Gasim's Republican party has not yet decided on their continued support for the MDP coalition.
Now the Republican party will be thinking of how to score political points within he MDP alliance or pull out from the government. MDP will think of political horse-trading to keep its government from falling.
In the United States, people are born into either Republican or Democratic families, almost like an inherited religion. Americans are getting tired of the abuses of the party system, and more and more are declaring themselves independent and moving away from the political parties.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
