Responsibilty and Accountability

America's first African-American president Barack Obama has used these words as a running theme during his long campaign to reach the white house. Maldives is following the American model of the presidential system. In the American system the president appoints the best persons for the various jobs. In the decentralising process, the Maldivian president is appointing councillors to islands and atolls based on affiliation to his party. As a result MDP loyalists and activists are given these jobs rather than choosing the best people for public service. President Nasheed's advisor Hassan Saeed who runs his own political party has voiced his concern on this problem.

We have taken the first step in the democratic process- choosing our leader from multiple contestants. We now need to come together to help the president succeed to make our lives better. After vigorous debate on policy and politics, the nation needs to come together to develop the potential of every individual citizen. This is how democracy is supposed to work. Our politicians should set aside petty differences and work to empower the poor and disadvantaged with skills and resources that will help to reduce the gap between the rich and poor.

President Naseed has a responsibility to do what is right for the nation rather than to only appease his base within the MDP. Appeasing the base has been the norm of governance during the last thirty years. Our government who were in cahoot with the rich neglected the poor and helped the rich to become richer. The Nasheed government must change this immediately.

Economists and politicians are warning us that we are now in the midst of a global recession like the one that began in 1929. The world is in crisis. Our tourism will get affected. Our politicians need to take timely action to avoid any nasty shock to our economy.

Politicians who seek public service and who get elected or appointed must be held to a high standard of responsibility. When politicians fail in their responsibility, they must be held to account. We have already heard that some democratic leaders want to prosecute president George W Bush and vice president Dick Cheney for taking the country to war in Iraq by providing false information to the Senate about the weapons of mass destruction. We need to hold our public officials accountable for the responsibility we entrust to them. Our parliament must remain the watchdog to make laws that will protect the interest of the people. That is more important than the recess they want to take. Going by how Mohamed Shihab is acting as the parliament's speaker now and as head of finance committee previously, it is clear that he is working only in the interest of the rich and powerful. It is such a shame the Judicial branch, the Supreme Court has to force the legislative branch, the parliament to do its job- a job for which every member draws Mrf 60,000 monthly- a hefty sum by Maldivian standards.