Food For Thought

Facing reality.......

A coup d’état is usually brought about by people who are convinced that they cannot acquire power through democratic means and / or those whose vital interests are mightily threatened without power .

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.

30 comments:

  1. This is taken from the blog of Mr. know it all. a coment to one of his article by an S

    'I may be nitpicking on the the details, but this paragraph from your post just seemed strange to me.

    "The constitution is silent on the issue where anyone unrelated to the election, like a citizen, or a member of the public, or a political party can move the Supreme Court for a declaration by means of a petition."

    anyone unrelated to the election, like a citizen or a member of the public. thought elections were all about citizens practicing popular sovereignty'.

    i can understand S's logic. is there anyone above 18 who is not related to or who does not have his/her interest in this election.

    hence Mr Know it all does not know when he hits on his own leg with his own sword. sometimes too arrogance can do that you.

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  2. adhi thiavure maa nubai kameh mihaaru kuran eba ulhey. eyee repeat koh vote lun hutuvumataka ravehi vefaivaa rah noo rashegai vote laan beynumiyaa ekan siteeakun eleciton comisionerah angan viyo.

    male'ga miulhey 150000 meehun ulhey iru enmen ebunaa sitee eh laanetha. evara vaguthu koba. miavure faseyha kon mkikan kureveyne. eyeee konmemeehegeves ID card systemaka alhaafa bahataa eyna vote leekan ID check kurun. dhen ehen rashega e same ID number vote laafiyaa e vote baathil vaanekamah iulaankurun. dhen balan jeheny echaky vote sheet tha consolidate kuraairu repeat ID eh intho. in kama vaana vote baathil . miavure rangalhu haluves huredhaaney.mikamah. MDP eohty DRP ah vote rigg kuran Deal hadhaafa. dhen mikama ulhedhen thibi ibra ah eku vara madhu meehun kolhen. mikama ulhedhybala. shukuriya

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  3. Truly said that neither the MDP nor the DRP wants an informed decision by the public!

    It'll be interesting to note what the Nasheed says after 10 October..

    We'll be watching! :D

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  4. Hi Ibra,
    Your whole argument is based on a 'two-wrongs-make-a-right' type fallacy. (e.g. Gayoom acted against the constitution too type). But, what is more, this post coming from a self-proclaimed proponent of Rule of Law is nothing less than shocking to me. In this case, so far Nasheed's argument is cogent. For its cogency, it is irrelevant to consider what Nasheed's real motive is. 'There is no enough time' is a very subjective consideration in my view, and less appealing than the 'scaremongering' of the violation-of-the-constitution consideration. At this hour of the country, to me, the fear of an oligarchic government taking over is greater than a gayoom-led government. If so, waiting for Shihab to take over is not appealing either.

    Also your rejection of 30th Oct. date is not clear enough to me. Can you elaborate on that?
    Thank you.

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  5. U r unbelievable ibra,

    first u claim for all the credit in making this constiution which i call a farce from the very beginning and now u are deviating from what u said and saying that it was indeed a farce . "turns" is a word u used. Dhefukkeheri is a word i would like to use.

    U r hiding behind a disguise and you are exposing your own self. kudos to ya mate.

    yeah yeah .. keep putting the blame on others u hypocrite parliamentarians.

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  6. for the unbelievers

    read these links

    and coment later

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  7. Dear Ibra,

    This is to let you know that Television Maldives has uploaded a copy of TVM siyaasathu programme on which Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) & Buruma Qasim Ibrahim appeared on Youtube website.

    This show how fair the National TV and Radio which is run by the people’s money is. This shows how bias this election will be. I guess Information Minister being a prominent lawyer in the country has not being beneficial to the country as a whole, certainly not on this regard. I appreciate TVM & Radio Maldives has made an agreement between political parties and presidential candidates to air there ideologies. But is this the reform the people of Maldives were expecting to be brought to the National TV & Radio.

    Ibra my question to you is that in your opinion how difficult will it be for Legal Reform and Information minister Hon. Mohamed Nasheed to make the state TV & Radio as public broadcasters legally. And do you think Nasheed choose not to make these state institutions into public broadcaster because he or the government did not have a genuine intension of making this election a Free & Fair election.

    Regards

    PS: The ‘Media’ tab of the official campaign website of you, http://www.ibra2008.com/# , does not work any more since last week. Hope to get your campaign materials on line very soon.

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  8. I beg you to NOT LET maumoon and his people tamper with the current constitution, and the EC any more!! please don't let the country go to the likes of him. the sms voting scam was obvious dude! how could u get only 11 votes when considered to the opposition 1500 votes? There really couldn't be that big a gap between your supporters. As far as i Know, there are twice that much even in your family! They really are having their way in these elections. they make things void when they wan't it! Doesn't make sense at all right? How could the people not get this? It is obvious even to the retarded! What is it with maumoon not being able to declare rule over the country if the elections is held on a date beyond the 10th of Oct? That i DONT GET, please help me on that.

    It doesn't seem that you have the attention of the people.........they are still hanging on to the more anti-maumoonist candidate (you know who). I beg you to hold a nation-wide event from your camp discussing the primary need to promote your cause. OVERRULE THAT OF ANNI'S. DONT LET HIM STEAL YOUR POLICIES! PLEASE!! DONT LET THIS COUNTRY FALL INTO THE HANDS OF PEOPLE WHO CANNOT RULE THIS COUNTRY! the reason why i beg you to overrule anni's policies is because they're nothing compared to yours!! LET THE PEOPLE KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING FOR THIS COUNTRY AND WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO FOR IT! ALL OTHERS ARE SPEAKING IN GENERAL ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED. YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO SPEAK OF HOW IT CAN BE DONE AND HOW IT MUST BE DONE!! YOUR PROCEDURES ARE REMARKABLE. YOU HAVE LET DOWN 80% OF MAUMOON'S POWER!JUST THINK OF HOW EVERYONE ELSE IS BENEFITING FROM MAUMOON'S ILLEGAL ACTIONS!! NO ONE STANDS FOR CHANGE AS MUCH AS YOU DO!! JUST LOOK AT ANNI, HE'S NEGOTIATING WITH MAUMOON AND CARRYING ON WITH HIS OWN CAMPAIGN WITHOUT TRYING TO CORRECT WHAT MAUMOON IS DOING WRONG THERE!! MAUMOON'S ACTIONS TO THIS DATE ARE VOID!! ANNI DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE DOES HE?? NO-OOOOOO!!!! NO ONE CAN CRITICIZE IBRA OF PLAYING IT DIRTY ON ANNI, BECAUSE HE SIMPLY ISN'T! I DARE YOU TO POINT OUT ANY FLAW IN IBRA'S POLICIES TO THIS DATE!!!! ANNI TAKES ADVANTAGE OF IBRA'S POLICIES!! THINK OF HOW MDP SAID THAT WE NEEDED TO TAKE CARE OF MAUMOON AND THAT WAS THE MAIN GOAL!! WHILE IBRA SAID THAT IT WAS NOT MAUMOON WE HAD TO WORRY ABOUT, IT WAS THE RULE OF LAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!! NOW, ANNI SEEMS TO STICK WITH IBRA'S VIEW ON THAT!
    THAT IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE! ANYWAY, IBRA, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO BUILT ANNI'S CHARACTER BEFORE THE PEOPLE! HE OWES YOU!! REMEMBER WHEN ANNI ALWAYS PROTESTED AGAINST MAUMOON? THAT DIDN'T SEEM TO CHANGE ANYTHING DID IT?? INSTEAD, YOU TOLD HIM AND MDP TO LET GO OF THAT PROCEDURE AND TRY TO BREAK DOWN THE PILLARS THAT ARE HOLDING THE CURRENT KAKISTOCRACY TOGETHER!! YOU SAID THAT IT NEEDED TO BE DONE BRICK BY BRICK!!!!!! ONCE AGAIN I DAAARE YOU TO POINT OUT ANY FLAW IN IBRA'S PROCEDURES!!!!!!!BUT ANNI DENIED YOU AND HELD ON TO THE PROTESTING THING
    HE DOESN'T REALLY SEEM TO KNOW HOW TO RULE A COUNTRY JUST YET. HE DOESN'T SEEM TO KNOW THE COMPLICATIONS IN RULING A GOVERNMENT! I PRAISE HIM FOR HIS WANTING TO TAKE DOWN MAUMOON!! HE MUST STAY AN ACTIVIST!
    PEOPLE, IBRA IS OUR TRUE HERO. JUST CONSIDER WHAT HE HAS BEEN DOING FOR THE COUNTRY FROM THE START??? HE IS THE ONE TRYING TO CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SEE, ANNI DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE THE RULE OF LAW, NOR DID HE DO ANYTHING TO IMPROVE OUR STANDARD OF LIVING!! HE WAS SOLELY AGAINST MAUMOON! SUPPOSE MAUMOON IS REPLACED BY ANOTHER PERSON....ALL HIS WORK WIL GO TO WASTE, UNLESS OF COURSE HE WAS PLANNING TO TAKE THE THRONE FROM THE START!! BUT IF HE DOES NOT GET ELECTED, HIS WORK WILL GO TO WASTE! WHILE IBRA's WORK WILL stay with us.....and the reason, he is trying to become president...is to make sure that stays with us.......HE DOESN'T have to stay there permanently, he will find a way to make it stay with us through out future government just by patching up the unfinished work he couldn't have been able to do as a politician, and could only do it with the clearance taht a president would have!!! SO PEOPLE!! BELIEVE IN HIM!! BELIEVE IN IBRA! BECAUSE CHANGE WE CAN AND CHANGE WE CERTAINLY WILL!!!!!!!!!! Because change is what he HAS been working for all these years, not particularly reform! but reform and every other thing as well!!!
    PLEASE MAKE US ALL REALIZE ALL THAT I'VE SAID ABOUT YOU! BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T BE WRONG AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW!

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  9. Mr Ibra you better make an alliance with Dr Hassan Saeed or find some way to boost your image. After hearing the polls i feel still maumoon is stronger than you which surprises me. Ibra you have a problem .... you better find what the problem with you and citizens. I feel sorry after you crying out load about the true reforms still people don't buy what you say. Are we Maldivians bloody fools or are we barbarians who support the people who call for fight on the road.

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  10. what did I tell you.. people don't want to hear what anyones manifesto say... they want a challenge to maumoon and remind him constantly that he is wrong and that person got 44% (anni) first poll of the week. change your strategy. Want to see you in higher ranks than Maumoon in the poll. Qasim must have known his place now.

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  11. After reading this article I feel that Ibra has a very selfish reason and is deliberately trying to delay the elections. If no president is elected by 11 Nov, it will lead to the argument that Gayoom cannot stay in power after Nov 11 and has to pass on the leadership to Speaker of Majlis. This will ofocurse will benefit some presidential candidates including people like Ibra. Very clever, you think.

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  12. couldn't wait without a comment after rhe last reading the last two comments (on polls). first of all where in the worl is a poll taken where the participants send sms. usually the pollster has to make the calls. otherwise the .system will be manipulated like tonight. Hassan Saeed bought 1800 sim cards and uses 5 machines to send 17 sms's a minute. Anni's camp bought 2700 sim cards. check dhiraagu and wataniyya for bulk sales. I bet you qasim will lead next friday night as he has enough money to buy 100000 sim cards. Ibra don't worry about these polls. its a deal between dhiraagu and dhi fm to earn a lot of money from these idiots as we all know they are sharing revenue on these sms's which cost RF3/- each. Both dhi fm and dhiraagu would have made a handsome MRF13000/- or so tonite. wait till next friday and at least it will quadraple.

    Ibra you are wise not to spend this kind of money. use it to educate people like you have been doing.

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  13. Seems to me that anyone who doesn't agree with you is wrong in their beliefs. On all occasions it's you whose right and the rest deemed wrong. First it was Qayyoom and now to the list you have included Anni; guess it'll come to a point when everyone else is wrong but you.And the scruntinity of all is that you simply dont won't to believe that the methods used by other politicians might actually work in the long run. You must be having one hell of a BIG EGO. May be you should start pulling the other leg to see the light.

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  14. Mohamed Hammad Hassan

    That last sentence actually made me laugh, quite funny it was. This is a good article for your followers and fans.
    But me, I ( who would read your articles, and reader comments regularly) read this and the previous article with a funny feeling. The presidential candidate who defended himself against allegations of collusion with the andheri maage clan, is accusing someone else of collusion now! The accused became the accuser. Ibra, as a fan( though i will not be voting for you) i suggest you stop accusing DRP,MDP,PA of a collusion without any basis or evidence just because they took a political decision not to allow Villa Party to take control of EC( There were no basis for accusations hurled at you too)Also, acknowledge the basic fact that, a future govt with reform minded thinkers( Which might spring up by your alleged collusion) is far better than the govt been taken over by Buruma and his Business Associates. I for one am ready to accept Maumoon as the next president under this Constitution, but I for one will never accept a Villa Govt!! BTW it still beats me why you had to remove the clause banning businessmen from coming to power!!

    Goodluck with your campaign.

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  15. People relax. I support Anni but I tell you that is not a proper poll on DhiFM. Anyone who knows A,B,C, of statistical generalisation will tell you, you can't have a proper poll without a random or representative sample. But I wonder why they are even doing this! Don't you think DhiFM is making this yet another entertainment show?

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  16. thye shud do it. its just a popularity contest for fun. you will see how these candidates are chocking and going mad after every result.

    one thing is clear
    maumoon will win.

    because oldies and mamas and grand mas dont send sms. but they will vote. so if you add that it is now clear maumoon will win.

    IBra you have to take the responsibility for that. since you are the destoroyer of alliance because of your ego.

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  17. if hassan and anni come on same plateform it will be a deadly combo for maumoon and qasim. how i wish

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  18. I think there are some misunderstandings and misconceptions regarding some issues here.

    IBRA was the incharge of drafting comitee for sure but the proposal to remove the clause banning businessmen from coming to power was a plot by gasim and DRP. check the minutes of that meeting. It was proposed by ADK Nashid and supported by DRP shareef. Ibra was the lone person perhaps against it. I hope Ibra will clear this issue.

    (Anonymous)About who destroyed the alliance, we very well know it was done by Umar naseer. Ibra just proposed his point of view but also said he will go with whatever decision alliance come up with. So how can anyone say Ibra was the destroyer!!? & aslo his viewpoint is sensible. check this:

    http://muthuim.blogspot.com/2008/09/one-candidate-or-more.html

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  19. Hammad :

    Do you think, me as the Chair of the Drafting Committee has the power to add or delete things from the constitution? If you believe that one single person can change the constitution as he or she wants, you are very ill-informed.

    Moreover, there was NO last minute change to allow businessmen to compete. Even before the final changes, there was no bar for businessmen to compete.

    Abou 90% of this kind of beiliefs rest with people who just believe cofee table rumours and do not bother to check the facts. These "facts" are available on the Majlis website.

    The rest of what you said is simply innuendo you want to create against me. I really won't bother replying. I mean if you really can claim that their is no basis for us to think there is collusion between Anni, Qayyoom and Yaameen even after their "collaboration" in the Majlis on the EC and the continuing collaboration in the Majlis, and after Ibrahim Hussain Zaki echoes on tv the exact words of Nasheed in his blog and the Majlis....you must be dreaming.

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  20. Huseyn :

    Look at what I have written objectively and without bias. I am not saying contravening the costitution is OK. It is not. The problem is this:

    1. ONE Article of the constitution says this election should be completed by 10 October.

    2. At least SIX other Articles outline certain other things that have to be done in order to have ANY election.

    If No 1 is to be met, all six mentioned in No 2 will have to be violated and vice versa. Which would you prefer?

    Nasheed is trying to make a case by saying that there will be a constitutional void if no election is held by 10 Oct, which is a lot of rubbish.

    The only possible consequence of no election by 10 October will be the legitimacy of Qayyoom continuing in office may be challenged, and of course the legitimacy of his cabinet will be questioned. But even if there is a ruling against him, the Speaker of the Majlis will automatically assume office. If the decision is in favour of the status quo, Qayyoom will continue in office. Hunky dory?

    S I am not arguing against the rule of law. When natural events overtake constitutional provisions, we will simply have to take off from where we left off. I mean, If an earthquake hit the Maldives and there was widespread destruction and we couldn't have the election as planned and the 10 Oct passed, would there be a void?

    That is why I have presented a catch 22 for Nasheed. Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. All those legal lingo questions he poses are nothing but smokescreens.

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  21. Anonymous (dhefukkeheri):

    You really have to get rid of that chip off your shoulder and stop whimpering like a child whose lolly has been taken. If you want to say something, say some meaningful thing.

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  22. Anonymous (on Ibra's selfishness) :

    I am not the Speaker of the Majlis, and never will be. So I can't become take over even if Qayyoom is out of office.

    The only way I can assume the Presiden't Office is if the general public elects me, and that can only happen when we have an election! So unlike what you say, my interest is actually in having the election ASAP. But I will still insist, even if it is against my own personal interest, the election must be held as per the constitution.

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  23. Having elections on october 10th as per the constitution is factual statement. It has to be done like that.
    Whereas the six articles which you are referring to in the constitution are normative statements. Which is something that ought to be done.
    So I am just trying to say that you cannot go against a factual statement in constitution while interpreting it.

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  24. dear ibra..
    dont bother abt these maldivians says.. they always stick to rumors.. thats wat maldivians are.. i challenge them to make a research and hang on to facts... then decide who is the best for candidancy??? then decide whoo are the hypocrytes.. simply sayin the tings is not the solution.. ekahala meehakaa hedhi adhi gaumu kriah nudhanee... they simply take wat has been feeded to them.. neva think of wat mite lie beneath... i have been tryin to be a fan of others.. bt wat are they.. nothin is as constructive as urs.. we shall change.. ibra.. u can...

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  25. well ibra, Nasheed had answerd many question last night in Dhifm appointment about the issue. He said he did say about void thing but not the way you have interpreted here. I think the best possible answer will come when you both sit together and answer these question.

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  26. Anonymous (factual and normative) :

    I am sorry you are way off track here.

    Constitutions, are by nature, statements of intent. Interpretation has to be largely purposive.

    A priori requirement is having a free and fair election. Therefore the "factual" part is secondary to that of having an election.

    The articles I refer to come from the SUBSTANTIVE PART of the constitution. The 10 Oct date is in the transition chapter, again secondary.

    In short, the constitution requires the holding of a FREE AND FAIR ELECTION, as laid out in the constitution, by the 10th of October.

    The Constitution does not allow the holding of an unfair election simply to meet a date. The whole idea is to have not just any election, but a free and fair election. Savvy?

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  27. insaafu veri inthihaabeh beyveyny kihiheh. raajeygai masters ah phd nagaigen thibi dheeny bodethi ilm verin ebathibi miskithakugai roadhamahu mifadha thqreeru tha dhey
    eakamu meen eves beyfulhaku dhakaa vaahakey kahabaraka nuvey. maumoon hukuru dhuvahu nery folhi kahabarah vey.

    dhen roadhamu radio in iruoseyiru anna konmeves dhyny programehgai ves maabodu dhyny ilm veriaka vegen konmeves haasareh dhama. ekamau eporgrameh genesdhenves mynaah vure maa qaabil dhyny ilm verin rajeigaa ebathibi. iru osey gadi vyma enmen bangi govaairu radio aduaha thibeyney hen hyvany egadyge slot meena jahaiganegen miulheny.

    dhen bune bala miraajeygai insaafu veri inthibaabey beyveyne gotheh. dhen inthiqaaly maruhalaain feshigen national radio tv minivan muasasaa ah nuhedhy kamy majleehun elhi vara lha echeh. inthihaabuge bill discus kuraairu mi bai himana qaumee tv radio maumoon ge adhashun minivan nukoh mikameh nuvaaney.

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  28. its 8.41 pm. raje miadhu. todays topic is veythuve dhiya dhuvas thakugai raajeygai dhyny thauleem fulhavegen ai goh. and the speaker is ibrahim rasheed moosa. he started saying in the last 28 years. initialy i thought this might by time given to siyasee parties.

    is this free and fair media ? raje miadhu is hijacked by drp. so?

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  29. talking of citizens practicing the right to vote, there are these letters arriving from the "aneh dhivehi raajje" to members of the MDP saying the party constitution obliges them to vote for the party candidate. what sort of democracy is this? i hope i never have to live in that dhivehi raajje, for I believe in the secrecy of the vote and also in the right to choose.

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