Tuesday, January 20, 2009

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.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Job Centres with Moral Obligations

According to a Minister of the Nasheed government, opening up job centres in Maldives will help young people to find jobs. The minister alluded to the fact that providing useful information to job seekers is a moral obligation of the state. It is heartening to know that one ministry is thinking about its moral obligation.

It is the duty of the government to look after its citizens. So it is more than a moral obligation not only to match jobs but to create them as well. For 30 years our government believed that their job was only to preach. They were not interested in creating jobs or maintaining them. During this same period our per capita GDP grew from US$ 300 to 3000. It is a remarkable achievement- a testament to the industrious nature of the private sector. Amazingly, during this same period the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. Thanks to our government who spent the money that could have been used on development of public services to the likes of the US 7 million yacht, seeking world class luxury normally seen in the oil-rich sheikdoms.

According to a recently released Human Rights Commission report around 12,000 families in Male’ do not have their own housing and are forced to share accommodation with other families or make do with temporary living arrangements. Housing has become so scarce that a quarter of all families in Male’ share just one room and almost 70 per cent live in accommodation that fails to meet ‘adequate housing’ criteria on the basis of overcrowding. These conditions are so appalling that these apartments are considered as slums going by the UN definition.

Presently there is an ongoing row between the Home Ministry and Civil Service Commission(CSC). The CSC claims that it had been asked to dismiss over a thousand civil servants from its employment by the home ministry; an allegation, which the ministry has denied. CSC says that they have also been asked to be make redundant a total of 381 civil servants over the age of 55. Under the Civil Service Act, the commission has the authority to retire civil servants over this age. The Home Ministry refutes this statement saying the CSC asked for such a list. The public does not know who to believe. It appears this government thinks people are a disposable asset because they do not have the strength of the unions to back them. Regardless of the type of restructuring that is taking place in the decentralisation process, those who have loyally served must be given priority to remain employed or be given the necessary training and help to look for other work. In this effort, no politician of the Nasheed government should feel it is only their moral obligation to serve public good. It is their duty and job for which they are paid to work in the interest of the public.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Rising Religious Tension

Every now and then religious tension rises in Maldives. The most recent problem came up due to a directive issued by President Nasheed's Ministry of Islamic Affairs. It said that dancing is not allowed in this year's new year parties. The Ministry advised that it is unislamic for males and females to dance together. Several party organisers lost money as those who enjoyed such music and dancing were kept in check by the police.

In the previous government, the mathee majlis headed by Sheik Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim failed to maintain religious harmony. Groups of people with extreme views refused to pray in congregation with the more moderate people. Ultimately such radical thinking caused a group of young people to blow up a home made bomb in order to inflict harm on foreign tourists.

The divide between the liberal voices and the more hard line conservatives is growing wider. This is a worrisome trend.

President Nasheed is taking laudable action to bring the benefits of a decentralised economy. He also needs to show strong leadership to bring religious harmony. He should demand that politicians refrain from inciting religious and racial hatred.

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Friday, January 02, 2009

Cut down the recess

Our Parliament or the House of Peoples Representatives has gone into the two month year end recess. This despite the fact President Nasheed was urging the House to finish the legislative business to hold parliamentary elections in February.

The parliament sits in three sessions. First session from March to April. Parliament is in recess for the month of May. The second session is from June to August with September as the month of recess. The third session is from October to December with 2 months recess January and February.

Last year MPs decided to give themselves a pay increase of 500%. They raised their pay from Rf7,000 (US $549) per month to Rf42,500 (US $3,333), with living allowances up from Rf5,000 (US $392) to Rf20,000 (US $1,568). That is a total of RF 62,500 per month.

It is outrageous that MPs are paid such hefty salaries when the average Maldivian has to survive on Mrf 2500 per month.

It looks like our parliament goes into recess at the drop of a hat. Most of the parliamentary work is done in parliamentary committees. MPs spend time not attending meetings and debating meaningless issues. It is unbelievable that such fat salaries should be paid from the peoples money to such an unproductive institution.

For 30 years, we had a government that believed the rich elites were more important than the ordinary hard-working people from the islands. As a result of their lopsided policies the rich became richer while the poor became poorer. While in opposition the MDP and independent voices in the parliament did some impressive work. But much more needs to be done. We need to hold President Nasheed to his promises. He has campaigned to reverse the injustice and bring equitable distribution of wealth. It is therefore not acceptable when president Nasheed fails to instruct his own members in the parliament to complete the legislative work without taking the recess. President Nasheed must know that the ordinary citizens have suffered for too long and he must get down to govern seriously if wants to put the system right. No organ of the state can afford to be lax.