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.