Minivan News – Archive

Mr. Mohamed Shihab MP and Mr. Hassan Afeef MP are key members of the reformist Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and are heavily favoured to win their seats in the general election scheduled for 31 December 2004.

Today, 25 November 2004, Mr Shihab and Mr Afeef have been summoned to the Police Headquarters in Male. Further reports say that after this, they were taken to Dhoonidhoo Jial. This is typically of how people are detained when the police wish to avoid creating a public scene.

The MDP sees this police action as an attempt by the Government to intimidate opposition MPs, in blatant disregard to national and international concerns over irregular and illegal means attempts by the Government to interfere and influence the outcome of the elections.

The MDP therefore makes this urgent appeal to the concerned international community to make representations on behalf of Mr Shihab and Afeef.

In particular, the MDP requests all stakeholders in the future stability of the Maldives to pressure the Maldivian government to: ensure the election process is free and fair and in accordance with international standards – specifically, the Maldivian government must desist from harassing MDP candidates and must allow the registration of the MDP; that all who wish to stand for election are allowed to stand and campaign freely; that the electorate and the media are allowed to engage in open debate; and that state resources are not used to favour some candidates more than others.

Background information

Both Mr. Mohamed Shihab MP and Mr. Hassan Afeef MP are key leaders in the reform movement. Over many years they have vehemently argued for a pluralistic democracy in the Maldives and have worked hard to ensure parliamentary proceedings are lawful. On two occasions in the last few months they have walked out of the house in protest at the Speaker’s attempt to unfairly manipulate proceedings.

Mr. Shihab and Mr. Afeef, both have submitted their papers to contest for the forthcoming election. Mr. Afeef will be defending his traditional homeland seat of Kolumadulu Atoll, which he has held for the last 15 years. Mr. Shihab is one of the longest serving MPs. His traditional seat is South Nelandi Atoll, but further to the decisions of MDP Mr. Shihab will be contesting for a seat from Male’. Male’ is one of the strongest fortress of the party.

These elections will be of crucial importance to the future of democratic change in the Maldives. Not least, this is because the People’s Majlis will nominate a single candidate for the 2008 Presidential election. The parliamentary nomination, which for the last 26 years has always been President Gayoom, will be put to a ‘yes-no’ referendum of the people. If the nominated candidate wins the referendum, they will hold office until 2012. In the past, the referendum has been a foregone conclusion as President Gayoom always wins with over 98% of the vote.

The forthcoming elections for the People’s Majlis are also important with regards to constitutional reform. A further parliament has been established to make changes to the constitution. Called the People’s Special Majlis, this body is comprised of the fifty members of the People’s Majlis, the President’s cabinet and another 42 elected seats and a further 8 Presidential appointees.

Even with the inherent biases towards the President in the current system, the performance of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) since its establishment in late 2003, poses a serious threat to the incumbent government. In the elections for the 42 elected seats of the People’s Special Majlis, held in May 2004, pro-reform candidates (candidates are banned from running under the MDP banner) won 30 out of the 42 seats, some 70%.

If the MDP wins a similar share in the upcoming People’s Majlis election, the government would lose control over the nominations for the next President and the direction of the reform process. Thus, faced with such formidable opposition in the run-up to this election, the government continues to subvert the rule of law in an attempt to hold on to power.

In contravention of Article 27 of the constitution of the Maldives, the government refuses to grant registration for the Maldivian Democratic Party, while the government itself is acting along the lines of a well-formed single party. The government fields their own candidates acting as a party as defined by Article 27 of the constitution.

In the recent months, the government has intimidated the public by banning public gatherings, conducting sweeping mass arrests, torturing those arrested, declaring a state of emergency and nighttime curfew. The government continues to hold pro-reform MPs in detention with threats of charges with long jail sentences. The government has charged two pro-reform MPs under Article 46 of the archaic Penal Code of the Maldives.

The government is also threatening to charge other pro-reform activists and candidates for the forthcoming election and is presently intimidation and harassing the existing leadership of the reform movement in the Parliament.

The arrest of the opposition MPs and activists continues at a crucial stage of the reform programme. The MDP fielded a winning candidate for Speaker of the Special Majlis in August 2004. The reform movement has also mustered widespread grass-roots support, garnering unprecedented rallying strength, as shown by the peaceful gatherings of July and August 2004.

The MDP feels that decisions and deliberations on reform should be made with the full participation of all parties who would be affected by such reforms. The continued detention of opposition MPs and candidates and the harassment and intimidation of candidates is therefore seen as grossly unfair and as such the MDP believes that the civil rights of thousands of its supporters are being denied.

Hundreds of pro-democracy activists – in prison, under house or under Male’ arrest – will wake up this morning having spent one hundred days in detention.

The issue of the pro-democracy detainees is a combustive one. It divides the country and divides the country from the rest of the world. One just needs to look at the reaction of the Europeans – who continue, privately, to chatter about imposing sanctions – to see just how far Gayoom has travelled down the road to becoming an international bogey-man and the Maldives a pariah state.

However, when one thinks of it dividing the country, it is not down the middle, with one half of the population supporting the incarceration of innocent democracy campaigners and the other opposing it, it is more a division between the ruling elite – Gayoom’s family and friends – and everybody else.

More than just dividing the country though, the issue of the detainees also exposes just how fragile Gayoom’s rule really is. How many Maldivians, if you asked them in private, would actually support Gayoom’s polices on the detainees? How many support Gayoom at all? All the evidence – the opposition’s showing in the Special Majlis elections, the popularity of the reform meetings, the popularity of independent media, and of course 12,000 people on the streets in August – leans towards the conclusion that Gayoom is profoundly unpopular.

This entrenched unpopularity – some might say loathing – of Gayoom and his regime shifts the balance of power in the Maldives away from the regime and into the hands of the people. Although many may not realise it, the most powerful force in Maldivian politics today is not Gayoom, nor his supporters, nor even the NSS. It is the people.

As Fathimath Shimla argues in her peice “the limits of foreign intervention in the Maldives”, the power of mass public protest in the Maldives is enormous. Can anyone remember a time – the coup attempt aside – when Gayoom has looked so fallible? Can anyone remember a time when his own cabinet were divided, when his own family members were conspiring against him, when his own security services were dangerously split, and when 15% of Male’ rose up against him? However, there is still a key missing ingredient for real change to occur – a belief by ordinary Maldivians in their own ability to achieve that change.

As key opposition figures spend their one hundredth day in detention, some must wonder why they are still held captive and why Gayoom is still in power. For it is not wishful thinking but the simple truth to say: if enough Maldivians believed tomorrow they would bring down the dictator, tomorrow they surely would.

Abdulla Rasheed, better known as ‘IC’, has been held in solitary confinement – without charge – for 98 days following his involvement in the peaceful pro-democracy rally of 12-13th of August. Whilst the majority of those arrested following the August rally have been transferred to house or Male’ arrest, IC remains behind bars in Dhoonidoo. Minivan News spoke to his family and friends to discover why this 35 year-old man from Addu Atoll is so threatening to the Maldivian regime.

IC first attracted public attention during the 1999 parliamentary elections. As the campaign manager for Mohamed Nasheed in Male’, IC quickly garnered a reputation as someone who had both the organisational and leadership skills to pull off political victories against the odds. His ability to ‘get out the vote’ especially among Male’s’ large and disenfranchised youth population made him a key player in winning the seat for Mr. Nasheed. As Nasheed puts it “without IC…I couldn’t have taken Male’.”

As a co-founder and owner of the popular Haruge’ Café, on the eastern shore of Male’, IC gained further attention – particularly with corrupt government officials – as the businessman who refused to pay bribes. However, his ethical stance against corruption did not do him many favours in business, he soon lost his stake in the Haruge’ enterprise.

This ethical stance seems to be the main driving force behind IC. During his days as a resort manager for Villa Hotels, IC became popular with his employees. “He was always kind to his staff. He would never just fire someone indiscriminately as others did.” a family member commented. In fact, IC’s refusal to budge on issues he feels strongly about appears to be the cause of his current incarceration.

A week before his arrest, IC received a tip-off that both he and Fulhu were to be arrested. IC caught the next flight to Colombo but after spending a couple of days there he felt he had to return home, regardless of the consequences. “I begged him not to go back to Male’” said IC’s ex-wife Tanya, who remains a close friend. “I knew he might get taken, but IC said he had to go back and continue the fight for democracy, he said he couldn’t just hide in Sri Lanka. I knew there was no point arguing with him.”

After Fulhu was arrested on 12th August, IC was one of the first to protest outside the NSS Headquarters in Male’. If the regime didn’t know it already, they knew then the threat IC posed. Several hours later, twelve thousand people had joined him.

“He’s had to sacrifice everything dear to him for his beliefs – his business, his family, and his freedom” says Tanya. With more reports of NSS brutality being exposed daily, IC has certainly suffered for his democratic values. On the 15th August, just hours after his arrest, he was taken from prison to hospital in Male’. He was reportedly suffering from vomiting and temporary paralysis of the legs, caused by the beatings he received at the time of his arrest.

Despite this, his family and friends remain strong and increasingly supportive of IC’s prominent stance against the government. “His family are behind him. They love him and will always support him” says Tanya. “A friend of his saw him last week when he was on hunger-strike. They conveyed messages of support to him. IC said he felt stronger than ever.”

The recent outpouring of support for IC – from his family, from the opposition movement and from the hundreds of young people who look up to him – perhaps most poignantly comes from his son. “I know they were protesting for democratic laws, I know they were campaigning for democracy, I know my father has been arrested but I know he’s not a criminal. Protesting for democracy is not being a criminal” said ten-year old Thaim.

The Maldivian Democratic Party expresses profound regret that the Maldives regime officials and their sponsored publications have insulted eminent and brotherly Sri Lankans who organized the peaceful demonstration of 14th November in the vicinity of the Maldives High Commission in Pamankada, Sri Lanka.

Maldives High Commission officials were reported to have foul-mouthed high profile Sri Lankans who were among the organizers of the demonstration, including film maker Manik Sandarasagara, and his colleagues.

A group of about 25 Sri Lankans carrying placards gathered in front of the Maldives High Commission in Sri Lanka on Sunday and voiced concern for political detainees in Maldives. They called for the restoration of electoral and civil rights of would-be candidates being barred by the government to contest general elections for which the application deadline is November 15. The Sri Lankan traffic police dispersed the group as the street leading to the Maldives High Commission was a narrow lane and vehicles carrying invitees to Eid (Ramazan festival) there were having difficulties accessing the road, a Sri Lankan news reporter on the scene told MDP officials.

The demonstrators later regrouped in front of the Euro Cinema in the vicinity of the Maldives High Commission. “By then the group was about 70 strong. They stayed there about an hour and a half before peacefully dispersing”, a journalist said.

“They (High Commission officials) called us impotent idiots and coup-plotters and kept saying it was Sri Lankans like us who sponsored the attacks in Male in 1983”, a spokesperson for the organizers complained to the MDP. Maldives regime sponsored publications described participants of the demonstration as “People who were barefooted, wearing sarongs and chewing puak or betel leaf, ….. riff raff- the equivalent of partey’s (a Maldivian jargon for drug dealers)”

An eminent Sri Lankan who called the MDP offices in Beddegana explained : “The demonstration was not planned to coincide with any national or religious functions but with November 14th, (a Sunday) which was the last day of forwarding applications to stand for the forthcoming general elections. It was deplorable that they would revile Sri Lankans in such a manner”.

Many would-be candidates for the forthcoming general elections are being barred from their civil and electoral rights, pending trials or release from arrest, a spokesperson for the organizers noted. “The government is thereby depriving the constitutional rights of thousands of their supporters” he said.

The Maldivian Democratic Party extends its gratitude for the sympathy expressed by the demonstrators for political detainees and their solidarity with us for condemning violations of human, civil and electoral rights by the Maldives government.