Day: August 24, 2005

‘This is the Trial of the MDP Itself’ – Ibrahim Ismail MP

Minivan News spends 15 Minutes with Ibrahim Ismail, Member of the Majlis for Male’ and a senior figure in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
MN: What is your assessment of the political situation in the country now – some diplomats have described it as akin to where the Maldives was 12 months ago, would you agree?
II: I think the government tried to appease the international community by allowing political parties and some controlled opposition rallies to create the impression that the reform agenda was underway. But as expected, they have proved that their modus operandi does not have room for democracy. They know that even with a small space granted for freedom of speech and association, they will rapidly lose political ground. So I suspect that the government wants the political system to go backwards to the kind of environment we had 1-1 ½ years ago.
The government is finding it unpalatable to have criticism and it has taken less than three months for them to go back to the old ways of repressing dissent. This is not the kind of thing we would expect from a government committed to democratic reform. The events since July 31st [when the arrests of democrats started in earnest] have proved once and for all that the government does not have any intention of bringing about democratic reform. Their notion of democracy is doing it their way with no criticism or dissent.
MN: What do you think the government is trying to do with Anni [MDP Chairperson Mohamed Nasheed]?
II: In the case of Anni, the issue is very complex. Nasheed has been one of the few people who has persevered for the struggle for democracy against all odds. He has persevered despite all the things the government has done to him and has refused to give-up and refused to accept that the undemocratic practices of the government are OK.
Anni is symbolic for the government and for the people. For the people, he has come to represent the democratic aspirations of the nation. For the government, he is symbolic because he represents the ultimate threat – here is someone who will not be bowed, who will keep going, who has the capacity to group people as an opposition. He is seen as the personification of all opposition to the government and very senior people in government now have personal animosity towards him. All these things combined make Anni the sacrificial lamb.
The government believes that by creating all this propaganda about the MDP they can kill the opposition, but I can assure you, the recent behaviour by Gayoom will haunt him to his grave.
MN: How many of your constituents are in jail at the moment?
II: There is great difficulty giving a precise number as the government is everyday releasing some people and arresting others. Also, many people arrested in Male’ are not registered there… but I can say that a significant number of my constituents are in jail.
MN: What can you do, as their elected representative, to ensure that the rights of your constituents in jail are not violated?
II: Members of Parliament in the Maldives have very limited power. The powers we do have are not clearly defined and are restricted to the chambers of the Majlis.
I have, on numerous occasions and before these recent arrests as well, written formally to government officials on various issues and they don’t ever bother to reply. I demand access to them and they refuse and they don’t take my phone calls. There is very little I can do under the present set-up. The only thing I can do is question Ministers in the Majlis and, of course, the government has deliberately closed parliament at this moment.
I have requested that the Human Rights Commission (HRC) holds a public enquiry into the present situation. They need to conduct an independent enquiry into the events of the 12-14th August because a number of my constituents have complained of suffering from injustices such as mass arrests and their homes being violated. So, many people’s fundamental rights appear to have been abused. The HRC is the only independent body in the country that could carry-out such an investigation, free from political interference.
MN: How does the MDP move forward from the present situation?
II: The MDP has suffered critical injuries. The Chairman is arrested and charged with very serious offenses. Even more that that, the government and the government media – remember 3 out of 4 of the dailies are pro-government – has been constantly accusing the MDP of all sorts of untrue things. The government has also curtailed all the activities of the party. They won’t allow us to hire a space for a meeting, for instance. All this is designed to damage the reputation of the party and create fear so people will be scared to associate with the MDP.
This is the trial of the MDP itself. A one-sided trial in court of our Chairperson and a trial which is also being played out in the government’s media. Anni is symbolic of the party. The government is trying to give the message that if they can do this to Anni, they can do this to anyone.
But after 2-3 days since the arrests, I’m happy to say that the public turned back in favour of the MDP, after they had time to assess the situation for themselves.
It will take time to work out the extent of the damage to the party, but I can very confidently assure people we will work this out and if there was ever a free and fair election we would win. I am very confident of that.

Minivan News spends 15 Minutes with Ibrahim Ismail, Member of the Majlis for Male’ and a senior figure in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

MN: What is your assessment of the political situation in the country now – some diplomats have described it as akin to where the Maldives was 12 months ago, would you agree?

II: I think the government tried to appease the international community by allowing political parties and some controlled opposition rallies to create the impression that the reform agenda was underway. But as expected, they have proved that their modus operandi does not have room for democracy. They know that even with a small space granted for freedom of speech and association, they will rapidly lose political ground. So I suspect that the government wants the political system to go backwards to the kind of environment we had 1-1 ½ years ago.

The government is finding it unpalatable to have criticism and it has taken less than three months for them to go back to the old ways of repressing dissent. This is not the kind of thing we would expect from a government committed to democratic reform. The events since July 31st [when the arrests of democrats started in earnest] have proved once and for all that the government does not have any intention of bringing about democratic reform. Their notion of democracy is doing it their way with no criticism or dissent.

MN: What do you think the government is trying to do with Anni [MDP Chairperson Mohamed Nasheed]?

II: In the case of Anni, the issue is very complex. Nasheed has been one of the few people who has persevered for the struggle for democracy against all odds. He has persevered despite all the things the government has done to him and has refused to give-up and refused to accept that the undemocratic practices of the government are OK.

Anni is symbolic for the government and for the people. For the people, he has come to represent the democratic aspirations of the nation. For the government, he is symbolic because he represents the ultimate threat – here is someone who will not be bowed, who will keep going, who has the capacity to group people as an opposition. He is seen as the personification of all opposition to the government and very senior people in government now have personal animosity towards him. All these things combined make Anni the sacrificial lamb.

The government believes that by creating all this propaganda about the MDP they can kill the opposition, but I can assure you, the recent behaviour by Gayoom will haunt him to his grave.

MN: How many of your constituents are in jail at the moment?

II: There is great difficulty giving a precise number as the government is everyday releasing some people and arresting others. Also, many people arrested in Male’ are not registered there… but I can say that a significant number of my constituents are in jail.

MN: What can you do, as their elected representative, to ensure that the rights of your constituents in jail are not violated?

II: Members of Parliament in the Maldives have very limited power. The powers we do have are not clearly defined and are restricted to the chambers of the Majlis.

I have, on numerous occasions and before these recent arrests as well, written formally to government officials on various issues and they don’t ever bother to reply. I demand access to them and they refuse and they don’t take my phone calls. There is very little I can do under the present set-up. The only thing I can do is question Ministers in the Majlis and, of course, the government has deliberately closed parliament at this moment.

I have requested that the Human Rights Commission (HRC) holds a public enquiry into the present situation. They need to conduct an independent enquiry into the events of the 12-14th August because a number of my constituents have complained of suffering from injustices such as mass arrests and their homes being violated. So, many people’s fundamental rights appear to have been abused. The HRC is the only independent body in the country that could carry-out such an investigation, free from political interference.

MN: How does the MDP move forward from the present situation?

II: The MDP has suffered critical injuries. The Chairman is arrested and charged with very serious offenses. Even more that that, the government and the government media – remember 3 out of 4 of the dailies are pro-government – has been constantly accusing the MDP of all sorts of untrue things. The government has also curtailed all the activities of the party. They won’t allow us to hire a space for a meeting, for instance. All this is designed to damage the reputation of the party and create fear so people will be scared to associate with the MDP.

This is the trial of the MDP itself. A one-sided trial in court of our Chairperson and a trial which is also being played out in the government’s media. Anni is symbolic of the party. The government is trying to give the message that if they can do this to Anni, they can do this to anyone.

But after 2-3 days since the arrests, I’m happy to say that the public turned back in favour of the MDP, after they had time to assess the situation for themselves.

It will take time to work out the extent of the damage to the party, but I can very confidently assure people we will work this out and if there was ever a free and fair election we would win. I am very confident of that.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)