Day: January 11, 2007

The Indian External Affairs Minister, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, has made a quick visit to the Maldives and offered India’s “help and cooperation” with democratic reform.

He also called on Maldivian support for a regional free trade pact, the South Asian Free Trade Agreement or SAFTA.

His visit was nominally to invite the Maldives to attend the 14th The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, but he took the opportunity to make statements about democracy and free trade.

“We congratulated the President for taking initiatives in the reform process: multi party democracy, amending of the constitution, establishment of various institutions to strengthen this democratic and reform process. We also extended our help and cooperation if it is required in any of these fields,” Mr. Mukherjee told state channel TV Maldives.

He went on to ask for support for a regional free trade agreement. “I requested particularly the President…should take a special role and ensure that the SAFTA is operationalised and our objective of providing benefit to all SAARC member countries is achieved.”

The Maldives and India have enjoyed good diplomatic relations for some time. “Maldives is one of our dearest and oldest friends. Our relationship is totally tension free. We have the best of relations amongst ourselves. And both of us agreed that we should try to make SAARC a thrust so that it can achieve its mandate,” Mr. Mukherjee said.

But some have criticised India for its continued support of President Gayoom’s regime, and especially its military aid. Many believe President Gayoom and his party, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), are only superficially committed to democracy and that India’s support of the regime is actually hindering reform.

One Maldivian commentator, Ali Siraj, recently wrote an article published in Fiyes magazine and on this website entitled, “The Indian Congress Party is the Biggest Obstacle for a Democratic Maldives.” In it he argued: “Since Congress party took control the support given by India to establish a democracy in Maldives came to a halt.”

There is considerable distrust among many Maldivians over President Gayoom’s assumed democratic ideals.

Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, the Acting President of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which campaigns for the end to dictatorship in the Maldives, reacted to news of Mr. Mukherjee’s visit by saying the Indian government: “will be with the people of this country, regardless of who is in power.”

He has stated that the MDP is keen to work with India and says the country has also had to deal with a dictatorship, so the two countries have a shared experience.

Mr. Mukherjee left yesterday evening without meeting with the MDP.

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The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) says a large part of its budget for 2007 will be spent on strengthening branches of the party in the Atolls.

According to Ibrahim Shaafiu, DRP Registrar, this year’s party budget will be used to help raise awareness in the Atolls of the referendum to decide on a presidential or parliamentary form of government in the country.

Shaafiu went on to say that although the party’s budget had not been finalised, it was near completion.

The DRP’s announcement to pay for government-awareness programmes comes at the same time as the party announces it will begin preparations for the upcoming referendum to determine the future form of government in the Maldives.

Speaking at a DRP rally in Male’ on Sunday, leader of the party and the government, President Gayoom, said his party must ensure victory over the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) during the referendum, which could take place as early as March this year.

The DRP is firmly committed to a presidential style of government and hopes to persuade voters to choose the system.

The MDP is advocating a parliamentary style of government.

According to Information Minister, Mohamed Nasheed, who also spoke at the DRP rally, the party’s parliamentarians unanimously support a presidential system.

Nasheed said the parliamentary group has come up with numerous reasons to support their claim that a presidential system is the best model – the main one being that only a presidential system will ensure fair representation and a meaningful democracy, according to the DRP.

Nasheed also said that in a parliamentary system elections are costly and can sometimes set back a country’s economy by three or four years.

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Hundreds of islanders on Kolhufushi, Meemu Atoll have begun protesting around the Island Office after the government issued new proposals for tsunami recovery works.

Eyewitnesses say that around 200 locals gathered outside the office this morning and barricaded the Deputy Island Chief, Ismail Shakir, inside, throwing leaves and branches into the building. Protesters have also refused to let the Island Chief, Yusuf Sidqi, into the office, according to the reports.

According to Sidqi, who was left stuck by the island harbour, unable to get into his office, the protesters have raised the flag of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and cut down seven coconut trees.

The government issued a notice to islanders early today saying it would rebuild 55 houses damaged or destroyed by the tsunami on their original site, instead of a new site that had been proposed.

“We want to settle on the new zone. The zone is very close to the Island Office and the Health Centre…the old houses are very far away from these places,” said one protester who did not want to be named for fear of reprisal.

The government’s statement also said it would only offer compensation payments for repairs to another 132 houses, rather than repairing the houses themselves. That means residents would have to do the renovations on their own.

Controversy & Coconut Trees

The current disturbances are the latest in a long line of problems in Kolhufushi. Since the tsunami struck in December 2004, conflict between residents has caused serious setback for authorities trying to repair damage to the island.

Many people are still living in temporary housing and much of the repair and reconstruction is only partially completed. Most of the work is currently suspended and residents are getting increasingly fed up with the situation.

“Nothing has been done so far…because the government was unable to settle the land dispute, the Red Cross had to focus on other islands…We are very dissatisfied with how things are going on,” said the resident.

Many islanders complain bitterly that agricultural land has been destroyed and many coconut trees have been felled, depriving them of a local food source.

It is still unclear exactly how many trees have been cut down. Atoll Chief for Meemu, Mohamed Naeem says all 1376 coconut trees have already been felled and the government has replanted 411 already. He says compensation had been paid for a further 460 mature trees, with a little less money given for 505 immature trees.

But Island Chief Sidqi says Naeem is “just a robot” and has got it wrong. He claims 600 trees have been felled, with a further 776 to be cut down if and when building restarts.

There is further confusion over the number of people who live in Kolhufushi. According to the preliminary results of last year’s government census, which some island administrators say is unreliable, the island has a total population of 811. But Island Chief Sidqi told Minivan today the population is 1 276.

Slow Recovery

There has been a lot of disagreement between islanders and the government over where houses were to be built. Most residents said they were happy with plans to move all settlements to the centre of the island, bringing them closer to health facilities. The scheme would replace two existing villages on the north and south sides, with a settlement in the centre of the island.

But those plans were halted after five families objected. Since then the recovery work on the island has ground to a halt and the government has struggled to find a solution.

The British Red Cross pulled out of the island in June last year, halting all their activities in Kolhufushi. They gave two principal reasons for leaving. “1) lack of agreement within the community and between the communities and the Government on repair and reconstruction beneficiary lists and, 2) lack of community and Government consensus on the location of the new zoning plan and who will live there.”

It is still uncertain whether the Red Cross will be able to resume work, or if it will be forced to withdraw funding. The Head of the British Red Cross Mission to the Maldives, Jill Clements, has described the situation on Kolhufushi as “very sad and very frustrating.”

The plight of the people of Kolhufushi has been a high profile issue ever since the tsunami, with ex-Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan and President Gayoom both making visits.

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