Following the murder of a youth recently, the acting home minister and police commissioner gave a press conference explaining the reasons for the uncontrolled street violence and escalating crimes. It was revealed that a contributing factor for the epidemic of violence was the release of more than 500 prisoners by the previous government. If they were dangerous criminals sentenced to be locked up, then why did the previous government release them free? Should those responsible in the previous government not be summoned to answer why they created this uncontrollable risk to the safety of society?
At what point in time will the current government have to take ownership of these problems that they inherited from the previous government? At some point, the present government has to stop passing the buck and deal with these problems. If the previous government has committed serious crimes, then the Nasheed government has to rise up to the task to expose them and bring those responsible to justice. Due process of the law has to be given to the alleged offenders.
In the prosecutor general's annual report, the state's prosecutor informs that he does not have the required staff and office space to do his his job. Most of the cases that the police have sent for prosecution remain unattended.
Presently this government is going through the decentralisation of public services in Male' to provinces and privatisation of public companies. Decentralisation and privatisation will bring greater benefit to society. It will ease some pressures on the capital Male' which is so over crowded that it is about to burst at the seams. This situation did not come about only because of the centralised method of control. The main reason is that we allowed an incompetent and uncaring government to go on for too long.
If officials holding responsibility in the provinces also are incompetent and uncaring, then we could up in a worse situation than where we are now. To reap the benefits of the decentralisation, responsible officials in the provinces need to be trained and motivated to serve for the good of the public. If we cannot do that, we certainly are on our way to become a failed state if we are not one already. Some of the former colonised countries like those in Africa prove the case that with bad and corrupt local leaders, the people have to suffer one tragedy after another. They may have escaped the injustices of their colonial masters but not the injustices of their own leaders.
How ironical is it that the country that has a "sunny side" as a peaceful paradise for rich foreign tourists is unable provide peace to its own citizens by locking up convicted criminals. Rubbing salt to the raw wound, the DRP government that caused these problems by releasing convicted prisoners is now protesting to protect the police- this time playing the politics of the opposition. The MDP government has so far refused to make the call on those who committed atrocities and still continue to wreak havoc on society.
Unfortunately for Maldivians, it is the government that has been the major cause of our biggest problems- from gangsters and violence to trafficking illegal drugs which has addicted a third of our youth.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
Political Parties Promoting Hatred
The multi party political system came into being in Maldives as a means to find a way to remove a president who was serving his 6th consecutive term of 5 years. Historically it has been very hard for Maldivian leaders to relinquish power.
Politics in Maldives has not been driven by any ideology or political philosophy of thinking (such as liberalism or conservatism in the US- the model that we are following), or even on the basis of Islam. All political parties have used Islam for political convenience. All parties insist that Maldives must remain a 100 per cent Muslim nation, with no real desire to deliver social justice that is strongly emphasised in Islam.
For more than 30 years we had no coherent policy on economic development, building infrastructure and housing, providing health care and quality education, or even maintaining social and religious harmony. It was political expediency at best. Just like the dictatorships in the middle east, our government vigorously pursued the extravagant trappings of power while neglecting the poor.
Now our nation is preparing to elect the members of parliament under the new presidential system. It took an MDP coalition to bring down the DRP government. Before the month was up for the MDP led government, Gasim Ibrahim, the wealthy businessman and philanthropist broke ranks with MDP. Although Maldivians have begun to see how fickle-minded these politicians are, they have not fully realised the horse trading that political parties indulge to buy over elected members to increase their chances to govern the nation.
Regardless of which party they represent, most Maldivians do not trust their elected officials because of the past experience. Politicians who needed their vote would appear on their doorstep once in 5 years. The promises they make are routinely broken and the electorate has turned cynical.
Few political parties except the MDP and DRP have developed into national party systems capable of organising candidates for elections or mobilise support to sway public support for party policies.
When the DRP was in power, they challenged their opponents not against the merit of how they wanted to improve what was wrong but by unleashing vicious personal attacks. It appeared as though no one had any reputation to protect. Now the DRP is in opposition. Its main role has to be to question the government and hold them accountable to the public. DRP should be able to offer better alternatives to the MDP led government's decentralisation- the main policy of this government. Where there is wide public support for a government's policy, it is in the public interest for the opposition to support such policy. The MDP and DRP and other political parties will have to learn how work together for the public good.
Even in this adversarial system, the public wants these politicians to work for their good. The personal attacks and vitriol need not be part of that process.
Politics in Maldives has not been driven by any ideology or political philosophy of thinking (such as liberalism or conservatism in the US- the model that we are following), or even on the basis of Islam. All political parties have used Islam for political convenience. All parties insist that Maldives must remain a 100 per cent Muslim nation, with no real desire to deliver social justice that is strongly emphasised in Islam.
For more than 30 years we had no coherent policy on economic development, building infrastructure and housing, providing health care and quality education, or even maintaining social and religious harmony. It was political expediency at best. Just like the dictatorships in the middle east, our government vigorously pursued the extravagant trappings of power while neglecting the poor.
Now our nation is preparing to elect the members of parliament under the new presidential system. It took an MDP coalition to bring down the DRP government. Before the month was up for the MDP led government, Gasim Ibrahim, the wealthy businessman and philanthropist broke ranks with MDP. Although Maldivians have begun to see how fickle-minded these politicians are, they have not fully realised the horse trading that political parties indulge to buy over elected members to increase their chances to govern the nation.
Regardless of which party they represent, most Maldivians do not trust their elected officials because of the past experience. Politicians who needed their vote would appear on their doorstep once in 5 years. The promises they make are routinely broken and the electorate has turned cynical.
Few political parties except the MDP and DRP have developed into national party systems capable of organising candidates for elections or mobilise support to sway public support for party policies.
When the DRP was in power, they challenged their opponents not against the merit of how they wanted to improve what was wrong but by unleashing vicious personal attacks. It appeared as though no one had any reputation to protect. Now the DRP is in opposition. Its main role has to be to question the government and hold them accountable to the public. DRP should be able to offer better alternatives to the MDP led government's decentralisation- the main policy of this government. Where there is wide public support for a government's policy, it is in the public interest for the opposition to support such policy. The MDP and DRP and other political parties will have to learn how work together for the public good.
Even in this adversarial system, the public wants these politicians to work for their good. The personal attacks and vitriol need not be part of that process.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
"Zero Tolerance" against illegal drugs
During the campaign for the presidential election, candidate Nasheed now president has said that some of the people will not be in all of their senses all the time. His view is that some of the people will take some kind of drug seeking the high once a day or once a week. He believes that 'zero tolerance' of drugs does not work and it is better to control the hard drugs and determine which soft drugs can be allowed under the law. The conservative party of the United Kingdom, who advises Nasheed takes a lenient view of soft drug offences in the UK.
For thirty years we were governed by the Gayoom government and some of their most powerful people had no conscience. These people were sociopaths driven also by their narcissistic feelings- the deadly combination of traits that was found on people who committed history's most horrendous crimes against humanity. The Gayoom government did not allow fire arms into the country because such arms could have been used to bring down their government. This same government kept their eyes closed to the illegal drug trade. By not allocating the manpower and resources to stop the illegal drug trade, they allowed their henchman and officials to make tons of money while addicting our youth. The Nasheed government should not play this hypocritical game.
If president Nasheed feels that some soft drugs are OK, he should get the Islamic ministry to determine what soft drugs are allowed in Islam, even on medical grounds. The public should be informed very clearly on what is allowed, how it is allowed and what is not allowed.
If all intoxicants are prohibited in Islam, then president Nasheed needs to get his act together and exercise the political will to stop the illegal drug trade. The price of inaction is too great for our country and our future generations.
For thirty years we were governed by the Gayoom government and some of their most powerful people had no conscience. These people were sociopaths driven also by their narcissistic feelings- the deadly combination of traits that was found on people who committed history's most horrendous crimes against humanity. The Gayoom government did not allow fire arms into the country because such arms could have been used to bring down their government. This same government kept their eyes closed to the illegal drug trade. By not allocating the manpower and resources to stop the illegal drug trade, they allowed their henchman and officials to make tons of money while addicting our youth. The Nasheed government should not play this hypocritical game.
If president Nasheed feels that some soft drugs are OK, he should get the Islamic ministry to determine what soft drugs are allowed in Islam, even on medical grounds. The public should be informed very clearly on what is allowed, how it is allowed and what is not allowed.
If all intoxicants are prohibited in Islam, then president Nasheed needs to get his act together and exercise the political will to stop the illegal drug trade. The price of inaction is too great for our country and our future generations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
