Coalitions and Alliances vis-à-vis Political Philosophies and Pluralism

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.