The Reform Movement started with many things and many aspirations. Among these was an expressed desire to promote pluralism in the Maldives. Of course the bedrock of a pluralistic society must necessarily be a polity which allows and enhances pluralism. An essential feature of modern polities espousing pluralism is the presence of a strong civil community acting as promoters and lobbyists as well as defenders and watchdogs of particular view points and positions. And of course, a “multi-party” political parties setup.
I used to feel awfully excited in 2004 / 2005, particularly when we met representatives from various embassies and international organizations, especially when I heard people like Gogo Latheef and Anni expound on the virtues of pluralism and pluralistic democracy, and how important it was to promote that in the Maldives. I really believed in the “movement” then. I was fantasizing with the vision of political parties competing with each other in the public and political domains, trying to convince the people that their political ideology was the best. There would be Centre- right, and perhaps extremely conservative parties talking about economic efficiency and economic rationalism, with less emphasis on social welfare and social virtues. Then there would be the Centre-left and left wing parties arguing for wealth distribution and power distribution. Somewhere in between would be parties promoting religious points of view and parties concerned about preserving values. There would be some other parties trying to make a mark on society by vigorously arguing for civil liberties and equality of all. Somehow, between these parties would emerge a check and balance and keep the country moving along progressive paths and most importantly, provide alternatives for the people to lean on in different circumstances. Pluralism. And of course, the ultimate result would be an enlightened public, who would engage in some intellectual activity and discuss national issues over their numerous cups of coffee. The penultimate “intellectual community”.
Much has happened since then. Somewhere along the line, the whole purpose of pluralism has been relegated to the wayside, and a fierce competition for power, simply for the sake of power, has emerged. Unholy alliances have come about, and in this process, political philosophies of parties (if ever there were philosophies to start with) have merged and diffused and we have different alliances promoting more or less the same “mas-huni” philosophies. Clarity and purity of thought has been dumped for political expediency. MDP, whose manifesto which I helped to formulate, has shifted suddenly from a Centre left party to a right of Centre party, and Anni is promoting this kind of thinking openly, while he describes his political thinking as “liberal” on facebook! Qayyoom and DRP are suddenly talking about anti-trust laws while Qasim and the Republicans are promising “corporate taxes”. Hassan Saeed is claiming he was the single entity which made freedom of assembly and expression possible, and that he was the architect of “liberal democracy” when parliamentary records show that he argued against freedom of assembly, prosecuted people who assembled, claimed that DRP should be the ONLY political party in the Maldives, submitted an “amendment” to the constitution, which if passed would have left the trial courts, and courts of first instance at the mercy of the Executive, claimed that the Minivan Bahus series was illegal, admitted on public TV that he acted in contravention to law while holding the position of Attorney General, gave legal advise to send back the bill on Parliament’s immunity back to the Majlis, and thereby killing it, and yet he is supposed to be the saviour who will bring liberal democracy to the country.
How could I join Hassan Saeed or Qasim or Anni without compromising my ideal of a pluralistic society? All of them claim that I don’t have any public support, but all are so keen to eliminate my candidacy and get me on their boat. Why bother? What can I possibly offer them? After all, every one of them can win the election without the 100 or 200 voters who support me. Why not let this eccentric fellow carry on with his dream? A dream of pluralism, liberalism and democracy in the Maldives. A harmless fellow who will be eliminated from the political scene after this election, by their assessment.
No thank you. I will not compromise. And I will win this election, Insha Allah. You are at liberty to underestimate me, but don’t underestimate the silent majority. That would be the worst thing you could do in politics.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Heavy Heart
I just came back from a committee meeting at the Majlis. The committee was looking at the Presidential Elections Bill which is absolutely crucial to hold the next Presidential Elections.
In general, the bill has been drafted reasonably well, given the time constraints faced by the Legal Reform Ministry and the number of other things that everyone has to do these days. I must commend Nasheed and his team for putting it together so quickly and so well.
Nevertheless, there is one provision, Article 21 of the original bill which tries to impose unreasonable time limits on various processes related to the elections, and thereby tying the hands of the Elections Commission in holding the election as prescribed in the constitution, and making the whole election meaningless. All this, of course, in the name of Avoiding the Void.
The Committee, and in fact the entire Majlis has been working in overdrive to meet these unrealistic deadlines. Deadlines which were imposed by the DRP, and succumbed to by the MDP, in the first place.
Tonight, the committee was faced with another dilemma. I requested the Elections Commission to appear before the Committee, and give us their assessment about the possibility of completing the elections process as required by Article 301 of the Constitution. They said in no uncertain terms that they would require a minimum of 23 days from the date of ratification of the Presidential Elections Bill to complete the first round of voting. That means that, even if the bills were ratified tomorrow, the earliest date for the polls would be the 8th of October, and the second round would fall outside the 10th October period, and fall straight into The Void. So we are now dead on course for The Void. Yet Nasheed announced today on some radio or other, or maybe it was some TV channel, that The Void could still be Avoided!
Of course there is absolutely no way that the bills could be ratified tomorrow. The General Law on elections has just been announced for second and third readings, and members are entitled to a minimum of three days to propose amendments. It will take at least two sitting of the Majlis to work through the proposing and voting of the amendments. The Presidential Elections Bill is still in Committee, and assuming that Committee finishes it work tomorrow and allow 5 days for amendments and final voting, this bill cannot be ratified until the middle of next week at the earliest. To compound matters, the Presidential Elections Bill cannot be tabled for second and third readings until the first bill is ratified.
All this means, that most probably both bills cannot be completed and ratified before the end of next week. Considering the minimum 23 days that the EC needs to have first round polling, the earliest we could expect the polls is around the 16th October. By then we would not only be in The Void, but in The Abyss.
The dilemma, then for the Committee is, should we recommend a shortening of periods for critical processes when we know we will be crossing the deadline, anyway, or should we finally admit that we have not been able to meet the unrealistic deadline, and recommend the full election process as stipulated in the Constitution?
All this, while being mindful of the fact that the Supreme Court has to be in place before elections are announced.
The Supreme Court. A sobering thought. Makes my heart ache and heavy. The Judicial Services Commission is apparently recommending judges like Ahmed Mohamed, who in the past has authorized, without even hearing the accused, prolonged imprisonment of people who were detained without charge. Judges like Areef, who has conducted criminal trials without giving the accused the opportunity of seeking legal advise. Judges who haven’t presided over many trials or hearings. Judges who haven’t got any proper legal qualifications (i.e none from any recognized University or tertiary institution). We are likely to end up with a Supreme Court of 5 judges, all of who have some knowledge of Sharia, but no proper knowledge of Law as the Constitution now proposes it. Imagine this bunch of “judges” ruling on a challenge mounted on a piece of legislation under article 16 of the Constitution (the one which says no fundamental right may be withheld or narrowed except in a fashion concomitant with democratic practices)
Will the MDP form an alliance again with the DRP and PA to approve this farce of a Supreme Court? Will they let down the hundreds of activists who have been detained for prolonged periods and convicted without proper trials by these very same judges by appointing them to the Supreme Court, the ultimate defender of the Constitution and all that is contained therein? Surely, there must be a limit to this stupidity.
If I had my way, I would appoint at least one or two judges from abroad, judges who know what democracy and rule of law is all about.
In general, the bill has been drafted reasonably well, given the time constraints faced by the Legal Reform Ministry and the number of other things that everyone has to do these days. I must commend Nasheed and his team for putting it together so quickly and so well.
Nevertheless, there is one provision, Article 21 of the original bill which tries to impose unreasonable time limits on various processes related to the elections, and thereby tying the hands of the Elections Commission in holding the election as prescribed in the constitution, and making the whole election meaningless. All this, of course, in the name of Avoiding the Void.
The Committee, and in fact the entire Majlis has been working in overdrive to meet these unrealistic deadlines. Deadlines which were imposed by the DRP, and succumbed to by the MDP, in the first place.
Tonight, the committee was faced with another dilemma. I requested the Elections Commission to appear before the Committee, and give us their assessment about the possibility of completing the elections process as required by Article 301 of the Constitution. They said in no uncertain terms that they would require a minimum of 23 days from the date of ratification of the Presidential Elections Bill to complete the first round of voting. That means that, even if the bills were ratified tomorrow, the earliest date for the polls would be the 8th of October, and the second round would fall outside the 10th October period, and fall straight into The Void. So we are now dead on course for The Void. Yet Nasheed announced today on some radio or other, or maybe it was some TV channel, that The Void could still be Avoided!
Of course there is absolutely no way that the bills could be ratified tomorrow. The General Law on elections has just been announced for second and third readings, and members are entitled to a minimum of three days to propose amendments. It will take at least two sitting of the Majlis to work through the proposing and voting of the amendments. The Presidential Elections Bill is still in Committee, and assuming that Committee finishes it work tomorrow and allow 5 days for amendments and final voting, this bill cannot be ratified until the middle of next week at the earliest. To compound matters, the Presidential Elections Bill cannot be tabled for second and third readings until the first bill is ratified.
All this means, that most probably both bills cannot be completed and ratified before the end of next week. Considering the minimum 23 days that the EC needs to have first round polling, the earliest we could expect the polls is around the 16th October. By then we would not only be in The Void, but in The Abyss.
The dilemma, then for the Committee is, should we recommend a shortening of periods for critical processes when we know we will be crossing the deadline, anyway, or should we finally admit that we have not been able to meet the unrealistic deadline, and recommend the full election process as stipulated in the Constitution?
All this, while being mindful of the fact that the Supreme Court has to be in place before elections are announced.
The Supreme Court. A sobering thought. Makes my heart ache and heavy. The Judicial Services Commission is apparently recommending judges like Ahmed Mohamed, who in the past has authorized, without even hearing the accused, prolonged imprisonment of people who were detained without charge. Judges like Areef, who has conducted criminal trials without giving the accused the opportunity of seeking legal advise. Judges who haven’t presided over many trials or hearings. Judges who haven’t got any proper legal qualifications (i.e none from any recognized University or tertiary institution). We are likely to end up with a Supreme Court of 5 judges, all of who have some knowledge of Sharia, but no proper knowledge of Law as the Constitution now proposes it. Imagine this bunch of “judges” ruling on a challenge mounted on a piece of legislation under article 16 of the Constitution (the one which says no fundamental right may be withheld or narrowed except in a fashion concomitant with democratic practices)
Will the MDP form an alliance again with the DRP and PA to approve this farce of a Supreme Court? Will they let down the hundreds of activists who have been detained for prolonged periods and convicted without proper trials by these very same judges by appointing them to the Supreme Court, the ultimate defender of the Constitution and all that is contained therein? Surely, there must be a limit to this stupidity.
If I had my way, I would appoint at least one or two judges from abroad, judges who know what democracy and rule of law is all about.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Nations are Devoid of Voids
These days there is a whole lot of scaremongering going on with claims that unless Presidential Elections are not completed by 10 October, the whole country will go into a Constitutional Void. This actually started when the Legal Reform Minister Nasheed thought up this idea as a tool to justify speeding up elections without following due process. And now, it looks like he has been caught up in his own propaganda, and has actually started to really believe this!
There is a bit of history to this. Way back in January/February, when the Transitional Chapter of the Constitution was being debated, and finally passed, I had been a lone voice in the Special Majlis, and in the drafting committee in saying that it would be extremely unwise to write into the constitution, a specific date by which the elections should be held. However, Nasheed gave assurances to the committee and the Majlis that the constitution would be ratified by early March. I argued that there would be a number of things to be done including a set of laws and regulations which would govern the elections and the institutions which would facilitate the elections, and that it would be impossible to meet a deadline of 10 October because it was unlikely that the President would ratify the Constitution in time for arrangements to be made for a free and fair election to take place. The assurances kept coming that that was not the case, and the President was just as keen, if not keener than us, to have a free and fair, multiparty election in 2008. I said that if he ratified it at all, it would not be before the 7th of August. Why this magical date of 7 August? Simply because if ratification passed beyond the 7th of August, the (then) Commissioner would have been compelled by virtue of the constitution to call for elections on the following Sunday (10th of August) under the Old system (i. e, public referendum for a single candidate). The President delayed until the last possible date. Ratification happened just as I thought it would.
When the work of the Majlis dragged on into May, and then June, I proposed again that we should get rid of the date and put in a period instead. By then we were in the final stages of reviewing the document. Nasheed agreed that we were going to have problems if we kept in this date, and I think he even did lobby with the President and other DRP heavies, but as usual, he lost the lobby. When I brought the issue up for decision in the Drafting Committee, Addu Shareef and Hussain Mohamed of DRP vehemently opposed and vetoed it. There was a counter proposal to extend the date to the 31st of October which I opposed and vetoed because that would simply have given just enough time to complete the farce. But I knew with Ramazan coming within this period, there was no hope of having even a reasonably fair election before mid November, and that time would be required to communicate the laws and details of the process to the public, which was a mandatory function for the Elections Commission, also enshrined into the constitution. Therefore, if a reasonable period was not prescribed, it was better to leave the date as was. This was the only avenue left for a lone voice, to allow the “loud voiced” majority to face the consequences of their narrow-minded, thoughtless and selfish actions.
Another factor that I considered was that once the Elections Commission was set up, and the relevant legislative framework was put in place, the EC would be in charge, and they would be making all the decisions. The President and the Legal Reform Minister would be watching from the sides, just like everyone else. They would not be able to issue directives to the EC regarding dates and so forth. That is why Nasheed is trying to put those directives into the law (Article 21 of the bill for Presidential Elections) and attempt to tie the hands of the EC. But as usual, he has forgotten that we now have a real constitution, and that any law which attempts to undermine principles laid out in the constitution is deemed void by the constitution, and could be challenged in the courts. The only hope they would have had is if the EC was willing to play along. But the announcement by the EC on Thursday night indicates that they are not.
So the only avenue left is to keep on crying out that anyone who says that a free and fair election cannot be held by 10th October is a hypocrite, is a self proclaimed Thomas Jefferson, is working for self interest, is a short sighted, power hungry politician, while those who are pushing for an unconstitutional elections process are of course patriotic statesmen. More on this topic on another occasion.
And of course, The Void. This silly argument that if we don’t complete the elections by the 10th of October, the country will be in a Constitutional Void and a Crisis just makes me laugh. The country was not in a legal void when the government denied legal representation for accused criminals in courts. Nor was it in a legal void when ordinary working people were denied their constitutional right for pension benefits. Nor was it in a legal void when citizens were denied the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association as per the constitution. The country went on. The country and the people will still go on. If Nasheed really believes that there will be a legal void, I CHALLENGE HIM TO OPENLY DECLARE THAT IF WE FAIL TO ELECT A PRESIDENT BY 10 OCTOBER, MAUMOON ABDUL QAYYOOM WILL HAVE NO LEGAL BASIS TO OCCUPY THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE, AND THAT THE SPEAKER OF THE MAJLIS SHOULD ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRESIDENT. If he doesn’t have the guts to say this, then he should stop his whimpering about Constitutional Voids, and let us get on with the work of building this nation. But my guess is, when the 10th of October passes with no election, it will be the Legal Reform Minister who will also be coming up with all the legal arguments for Qayyoom to continue in office, and how the Transitional Chapter is simply a “bridge which smoothens the process” and that of course there is continuity and contiguity of Qayyoom’s government.
I can understand the DRP position on this. What puzzles me is that MDP wants to hasten this election. Anni claims that we can’t have a free and fair election even if we take 20 years to do so as long as Qayyoom is in power. So why doesn’t the MDP work towards going into the “Void” Nasheed has created, and then mount a challenge on the legitimacy of Qayyoom’s continuance in office? They would then have the field clear of Qayyoom, and maybe Anni can then admit the possibility of a free and fair election.
Or is there an understanding that whether Qayyoom wins or Anni wins, it will be an MDRPA alliance government that will be in place?
Fact is, neither the DRP, nor the MDP wants to allow the people to make an informed decision.
There will be no Void. As Vitalstatistix would say, the sky will not fall on our heads. Maldivians went about their business before 1932, when we did not even have a constitution. They have survived the various “governments” and violations of the constitution by these governments for the past 76 years. I am sure they have the tenacity to carry on until the EC gets organized enough to have a decent election in this country.
Constitutional and Legal Voids, my foot. Try pulling the other one, too.
There is a bit of history to this. Way back in January/February, when the Transitional Chapter of the Constitution was being debated, and finally passed, I had been a lone voice in the Special Majlis, and in the drafting committee in saying that it would be extremely unwise to write into the constitution, a specific date by which the elections should be held. However, Nasheed gave assurances to the committee and the Majlis that the constitution would be ratified by early March. I argued that there would be a number of things to be done including a set of laws and regulations which would govern the elections and the institutions which would facilitate the elections, and that it would be impossible to meet a deadline of 10 October because it was unlikely that the President would ratify the Constitution in time for arrangements to be made for a free and fair election to take place. The assurances kept coming that that was not the case, and the President was just as keen, if not keener than us, to have a free and fair, multiparty election in 2008. I said that if he ratified it at all, it would not be before the 7th of August. Why this magical date of 7 August? Simply because if ratification passed beyond the 7th of August, the (then) Commissioner would have been compelled by virtue of the constitution to call for elections on the following Sunday (10th of August) under the Old system (i. e, public referendum for a single candidate). The President delayed until the last possible date. Ratification happened just as I thought it would.
When the work of the Majlis dragged on into May, and then June, I proposed again that we should get rid of the date and put in a period instead. By then we were in the final stages of reviewing the document. Nasheed agreed that we were going to have problems if we kept in this date, and I think he even did lobby with the President and other DRP heavies, but as usual, he lost the lobby. When I brought the issue up for decision in the Drafting Committee, Addu Shareef and Hussain Mohamed of DRP vehemently opposed and vetoed it. There was a counter proposal to extend the date to the 31st of October which I opposed and vetoed because that would simply have given just enough time to complete the farce. But I knew with Ramazan coming within this period, there was no hope of having even a reasonably fair election before mid November, and that time would be required to communicate the laws and details of the process to the public, which was a mandatory function for the Elections Commission, also enshrined into the constitution. Therefore, if a reasonable period was not prescribed, it was better to leave the date as was. This was the only avenue left for a lone voice, to allow the “loud voiced” majority to face the consequences of their narrow-minded, thoughtless and selfish actions.
Another factor that I considered was that once the Elections Commission was set up, and the relevant legislative framework was put in place, the EC would be in charge, and they would be making all the decisions. The President and the Legal Reform Minister would be watching from the sides, just like everyone else. They would not be able to issue directives to the EC regarding dates and so forth. That is why Nasheed is trying to put those directives into the law (Article 21 of the bill for Presidential Elections) and attempt to tie the hands of the EC. But as usual, he has forgotten that we now have a real constitution, and that any law which attempts to undermine principles laid out in the constitution is deemed void by the constitution, and could be challenged in the courts. The only hope they would have had is if the EC was willing to play along. But the announcement by the EC on Thursday night indicates that they are not.
So the only avenue left is to keep on crying out that anyone who says that a free and fair election cannot be held by 10th October is a hypocrite, is a self proclaimed Thomas Jefferson, is working for self interest, is a short sighted, power hungry politician, while those who are pushing for an unconstitutional elections process are of course patriotic statesmen. More on this topic on another occasion.
And of course, The Void. This silly argument that if we don’t complete the elections by the 10th of October, the country will be in a Constitutional Void and a Crisis just makes me laugh. The country was not in a legal void when the government denied legal representation for accused criminals in courts. Nor was it in a legal void when ordinary working people were denied their constitutional right for pension benefits. Nor was it in a legal void when citizens were denied the freedom of assembly and the freedom of association as per the constitution. The country went on. The country and the people will still go on. If Nasheed really believes that there will be a legal void, I CHALLENGE HIM TO OPENLY DECLARE THAT IF WE FAIL TO ELECT A PRESIDENT BY 10 OCTOBER, MAUMOON ABDUL QAYYOOM WILL HAVE NO LEGAL BASIS TO OCCUPY THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE, AND THAT THE SPEAKER OF THE MAJLIS SHOULD ASSUME THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRESIDENT. If he doesn’t have the guts to say this, then he should stop his whimpering about Constitutional Voids, and let us get on with the work of building this nation. But my guess is, when the 10th of October passes with no election, it will be the Legal Reform Minister who will also be coming up with all the legal arguments for Qayyoom to continue in office, and how the Transitional Chapter is simply a “bridge which smoothens the process” and that of course there is continuity and contiguity of Qayyoom’s government.
I can understand the DRP position on this. What puzzles me is that MDP wants to hasten this election. Anni claims that we can’t have a free and fair election even if we take 20 years to do so as long as Qayyoom is in power. So why doesn’t the MDP work towards going into the “Void” Nasheed has created, and then mount a challenge on the legitimacy of Qayyoom’s continuance in office? They would then have the field clear of Qayyoom, and maybe Anni can then admit the possibility of a free and fair election.
Or is there an understanding that whether Qayyoom wins or Anni wins, it will be an MDRPA alliance government that will be in place?
Fact is, neither the DRP, nor the MDP wants to allow the people to make an informed decision.
There will be no Void. As Vitalstatistix would say, the sky will not fall on our heads. Maldivians went about their business before 1932, when we did not even have a constitution. They have survived the various “governments” and violations of the constitution by these governments for the past 76 years. I am sure they have the tenacity to carry on until the EC gets organized enough to have a decent election in this country.
Constitutional and Legal Voids, my foot. Try pulling the other one, too.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Intentions, sincerity and actions
My last Post (“About Turns”) seems to have sparked a lot of comments. The surprising thing I noted in these comments is that initially there was some apprehension and some disbelief about what I said was likely to happen, but at some stage, justifications for MDP’s actions regarding the elections commission have emerged.
I am sorry that I have not been able to answer some of the issues raised by visitors to the blog. I am currently out of Male’, in an area of the country where the internet is not readily accessible. It is not that I do not want to answer, but I have just not been able to. It is a rather hectic schedule on one of these campaign trips! Having to do it during Ramazan makes it more difficult.
Let me attempt to clarify the issue of the Elections Commission as I see it. I think it is time to call a spade a spade.
The constitution defines the Elections Commission as an Independent institution. It is defined as such because it is supposed to execute the law without fear, favour or prejudice. One essential cornerstone for democracy to prevail is having free and fair elections. This is only possible with the Elections Commission setup as an Independent institution.
The MDP has been a leading voice up until now, criticizing Qayyoom because he was manipulating the elections process. But now it looks like it is alright for Qayyoom to manipulate the process as long as he shares the manipulation with MDP. The bottom line is, MDP has sought to join Qayyoom and the DRP in blocking certain actions of the Elections Commission which may block their candidacies (both Qayyoom’s and Anni’s). This notion is further strengthened by what Legal Reform Minister Nasheed said in Majlis today. He is now claiming that challenging the candidacy of anyone in the Supreme Court is only up to the Elections Commission. Now that DRP and MDP has made the deal to control the Elections Commission, the well disguised Nasheed who love this nation so much, and is so patriotic and apolitical is now starting to prostitute his “profession” by implying that public interest challenging in the Supreme Court may not be possible, and he is seeking to once again close the doors of the Supreme Court to anyone except MDP and DRP on the issue of elections. He thinks he is being very crafty, and that he is closing all doors to challenge election processes and outcomes via a piece of legislation. But I assure you, he still has me to deal with.
Those who argue that it is alright for MDP to engage in this treacherous behaviour argue that my proposal was worse because it gave 2 seats to the JP. This is a mistake. If you looked at all three proposals which were put forward, you will see that it is only my proposal which had any logical basis. My proposal allowed the nominees from all five parties fielding presidential candidates a seat on the EC. A sure fire check and balance within the commission itself.
What is most worrying for me is the fact that Anni and MDP have finally publicly acknowledged that they will:
Manipulate institutions to pull decisions in their favour,
Try to fool the public to justify their actions,
Attempt to twist and turn laws and their interpretations to gain and propagate power.
In a nutshell, are not these the very things that we have criticized Qayyoom for, and that we are fighting against? MDP fans, do you now see why I had to leave the MDP and why I can’t become the running mate of Anni?
The other day, Mariya said in the Majlis that Fuad Thowfeeq was not representing MDP. Two days later Afeef is saying in a Press Conference that Fuad represents MDP. Now they are trying to create an innuendo that I was behind whatever leaflets are floating around. The Plot thickens! I will tell you this. If and when I want to say something to the public, I will do so quite openly. On my own, or the Liberal Party’s, letterhead. Not on MDP’s letterhead. I have nothing to fear, and nothing to lose. Even on this very issue, I was the first person to predict MDP’s actions, on my personal blog. So why should I float cowardly pamphlets on the streets in the dead of the night?
Let us acknowledge a few facts. Anyone who seeks to gain favourable decisions from an “Independent” Commission by placing his or her own people within it, and by making deals with the devil to achieve it can never even think democracy. History is rife with people who have seemingly carried the public torch, projected themselves as “people’s heroes” and then went on to become absolute dictators. They do it by creating undying loyalty until they control public institutions and then they become institutions by themselves.
Power games. The blood of Evan Naseem had still not dried from the killers’ hands when Afeef, Mariya, Ibu, Shihab and other “reformists” voted Qayyoom into another term of office. History doesn’t lie.
Chairman Mao, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Jamal Abdul Nasir, Saddam Hussain, Muammar Qadhafi. There is no denying history.
I am sorry that I have not been able to answer some of the issues raised by visitors to the blog. I am currently out of Male’, in an area of the country where the internet is not readily accessible. It is not that I do not want to answer, but I have just not been able to. It is a rather hectic schedule on one of these campaign trips! Having to do it during Ramazan makes it more difficult.
Let me attempt to clarify the issue of the Elections Commission as I see it. I think it is time to call a spade a spade.
The constitution defines the Elections Commission as an Independent institution. It is defined as such because it is supposed to execute the law without fear, favour or prejudice. One essential cornerstone for democracy to prevail is having free and fair elections. This is only possible with the Elections Commission setup as an Independent institution.
The MDP has been a leading voice up until now, criticizing Qayyoom because he was manipulating the elections process. But now it looks like it is alright for Qayyoom to manipulate the process as long as he shares the manipulation with MDP. The bottom line is, MDP has sought to join Qayyoom and the DRP in blocking certain actions of the Elections Commission which may block their candidacies (both Qayyoom’s and Anni’s). This notion is further strengthened by what Legal Reform Minister Nasheed said in Majlis today. He is now claiming that challenging the candidacy of anyone in the Supreme Court is only up to the Elections Commission. Now that DRP and MDP has made the deal to control the Elections Commission, the well disguised Nasheed who love this nation so much, and is so patriotic and apolitical is now starting to prostitute his “profession” by implying that public interest challenging in the Supreme Court may not be possible, and he is seeking to once again close the doors of the Supreme Court to anyone except MDP and DRP on the issue of elections. He thinks he is being very crafty, and that he is closing all doors to challenge election processes and outcomes via a piece of legislation. But I assure you, he still has me to deal with.
Those who argue that it is alright for MDP to engage in this treacherous behaviour argue that my proposal was worse because it gave 2 seats to the JP. This is a mistake. If you looked at all three proposals which were put forward, you will see that it is only my proposal which had any logical basis. My proposal allowed the nominees from all five parties fielding presidential candidates a seat on the EC. A sure fire check and balance within the commission itself.
What is most worrying for me is the fact that Anni and MDP have finally publicly acknowledged that they will:
Manipulate institutions to pull decisions in their favour,
Try to fool the public to justify their actions,
Attempt to twist and turn laws and their interpretations to gain and propagate power.
In a nutshell, are not these the very things that we have criticized Qayyoom for, and that we are fighting against? MDP fans, do you now see why I had to leave the MDP and why I can’t become the running mate of Anni?
The other day, Mariya said in the Majlis that Fuad Thowfeeq was not representing MDP. Two days later Afeef is saying in a Press Conference that Fuad represents MDP. Now they are trying to create an innuendo that I was behind whatever leaflets are floating around. The Plot thickens! I will tell you this. If and when I want to say something to the public, I will do so quite openly. On my own, or the Liberal Party’s, letterhead. Not on MDP’s letterhead. I have nothing to fear, and nothing to lose. Even on this very issue, I was the first person to predict MDP’s actions, on my personal blog. So why should I float cowardly pamphlets on the streets in the dead of the night?
Let us acknowledge a few facts. Anyone who seeks to gain favourable decisions from an “Independent” Commission by placing his or her own people within it, and by making deals with the devil to achieve it can never even think democracy. History is rife with people who have seemingly carried the public torch, projected themselves as “people’s heroes” and then went on to become absolute dictators. They do it by creating undying loyalty until they control public institutions and then they become institutions by themselves.
Power games. The blood of Evan Naseem had still not dried from the killers’ hands when Afeef, Mariya, Ibu, Shihab and other “reformists” voted Qayyoom into another term of office. History doesn’t lie.
Chairman Mao, Adolf Hitler, Stalin, Jamal Abdul Nasir, Saddam Hussain, Muammar Qadhafi. There is no denying history.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
About Turns
There is an oft repeated cliché that politics is a strange thing, that it makes strange bedfellows and that it is necessarily dirty. What we have seen in the Maldivian power circles certainly bear testimony to that.
When we started the Reform Movement in 2004, there were many of us who were echoing the same principles, steadfastly promoting democracy, sometimes zealous to the extent that it was displaying religious fervour.
Right from the start, I had advocated that the only way to make long lasting changes was through legal frameworks. However, my colleagues in the movement often mocked at me and claimed that even the constitution could not be revised without first removing Qayyoom from power. I claimed that it wasn’t just Qayyoom, but it was really the system in place which was at fault, and that even if I was the President with that system in place, I would be corrupted pretty soon. My strongest critic and adversary in this tug-of-war was my brother-in-arms, staunch defender of Democracy, Anni.
Later, after Munawwar became MDP President, his first utterance was that it was impossible to revise the constitution without first removing Qayyoom from office. Both of them have been proven wrong.
It was with some amusement that a couple of days ago, I listened to Anni at some rally when he said “it is not necessarily Qayyoom who is at fault. It is the system.”
We have come a long way since 2004. Reformers have dropped at the wayside, and we have seen the exodus of Qasim planted “reformists” within MDP drawn to the proverbial drop of honey in the Jumhooree Party. Yameen played a couple of scenes in the unfolding drama with a “reform cap” for a while before he went back into the folds of The Regime. After tonight’s “debate” on the media, Qasim is most probably having a long hard think, and my guess is he will slowly start gravitating towards the honey pot where the drop of honey originally came from.
That leaves MDP and Liberal Party. What will MDP do? Will it join the foray, and try to oust Qasim by joining forces with Qayyoom? I sincerely, fervently, hope not. If that happens, a part of me will die from within. Then it will be Liberal Party and me alone.
I know, even as you read this, MDP fans will think I have gone crazy. But, friends, I think the political agenda and grabbing power is becoming increasingly more important to MDP by the day. I see signs of it in the Majlis.
The litmus test will be in the Majlis tomorrow. Remember how we in the Reform Movement have lamented about why the Elections Commission should be independent and free from political maneuvering? Will MDP hold steadfast to this essential principle in democracy? Or will MDP yield to political deal making, and vote to let Qayyoom take control of the Elections Commission? If they vote for a combination of DRP, MDP, MSDP, PP and one other, then it means that they have made an unholy alliance with People’s Alliance and DRP. The newest Alliance on the scene will then be MDP – DRP – PA Alliance.
Why do I think this? For a simple reason. Why is Anni suddenly avoiding the issue of challenging Qayyoom’s candidacy in the Supreme Court and saying he would like to see Qayyoom in the contest? I become very disconcerted when this kind of about turn occurs. It is a sixth sense gut feeling that I have.
What does MDP stand to gain by this kind of arrangement? Simple again. Qayyoom’s candidacy will be unchallenged in the Elections Commission, and so will Anni’s. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.
All this is conjecture. I REALLY HOPE, THAT FOR ONCE, I AM WRONG. I really do, and I pray to Allah that I will be proved wrong.
If not, I will be walking away from Majlis tomorrow with a feeling of déjà vu. And all I can say to Anni will be “et tu Brutus?”
When we started the Reform Movement in 2004, there were many of us who were echoing the same principles, steadfastly promoting democracy, sometimes zealous to the extent that it was displaying religious fervour.
Right from the start, I had advocated that the only way to make long lasting changes was through legal frameworks. However, my colleagues in the movement often mocked at me and claimed that even the constitution could not be revised without first removing Qayyoom from power. I claimed that it wasn’t just Qayyoom, but it was really the system in place which was at fault, and that even if I was the President with that system in place, I would be corrupted pretty soon. My strongest critic and adversary in this tug-of-war was my brother-in-arms, staunch defender of Democracy, Anni.
Later, after Munawwar became MDP President, his first utterance was that it was impossible to revise the constitution without first removing Qayyoom from office. Both of them have been proven wrong.
It was with some amusement that a couple of days ago, I listened to Anni at some rally when he said “it is not necessarily Qayyoom who is at fault. It is the system.”
We have come a long way since 2004. Reformers have dropped at the wayside, and we have seen the exodus of Qasim planted “reformists” within MDP drawn to the proverbial drop of honey in the Jumhooree Party. Yameen played a couple of scenes in the unfolding drama with a “reform cap” for a while before he went back into the folds of The Regime. After tonight’s “debate” on the media, Qasim is most probably having a long hard think, and my guess is he will slowly start gravitating towards the honey pot where the drop of honey originally came from.
That leaves MDP and Liberal Party. What will MDP do? Will it join the foray, and try to oust Qasim by joining forces with Qayyoom? I sincerely, fervently, hope not. If that happens, a part of me will die from within. Then it will be Liberal Party and me alone.
I know, even as you read this, MDP fans will think I have gone crazy. But, friends, I think the political agenda and grabbing power is becoming increasingly more important to MDP by the day. I see signs of it in the Majlis.
The litmus test will be in the Majlis tomorrow. Remember how we in the Reform Movement have lamented about why the Elections Commission should be independent and free from political maneuvering? Will MDP hold steadfast to this essential principle in democracy? Or will MDP yield to political deal making, and vote to let Qayyoom take control of the Elections Commission? If they vote for a combination of DRP, MDP, MSDP, PP and one other, then it means that they have made an unholy alliance with People’s Alliance and DRP. The newest Alliance on the scene will then be MDP – DRP – PA Alliance.
Why do I think this? For a simple reason. Why is Anni suddenly avoiding the issue of challenging Qayyoom’s candidacy in the Supreme Court and saying he would like to see Qayyoom in the contest? I become very disconcerted when this kind of about turn occurs. It is a sixth sense gut feeling that I have.
What does MDP stand to gain by this kind of arrangement? Simple again. Qayyoom’s candidacy will be unchallenged in the Elections Commission, and so will Anni’s. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours.
All this is conjecture. I REALLY HOPE, THAT FOR ONCE, I AM WRONG. I really do, and I pray to Allah that I will be proved wrong.
If not, I will be walking away from Majlis tomorrow with a feeling of déjà vu. And all I can say to Anni will be “et tu Brutus?”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)