Day: March 3, 2012

Majlis standoff stalls roadmap talks; Commonwealth, UN call for dialogue to continue

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progresive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has joined the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) in withdrawing from the roadmap talks, after Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs blocked President Mohamed Waheed Hassan from addressing parliament on Thursday.

The session was eventually cancelled, after Speaker Abdulla Shahid – a DRP MP – was repeatedly blocked from entering the chamber.

While a seven point agenda had been agreed during the Indian-sanctioned cross-party roadmap talks last week – including early elections as a discussion point – the parties had been unable to agree on an order of preference.

Local media had reported that the meeting was “heated” due to the participation of Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, with representatives of some parties expressing their “dismay” at the Indian government “interfering in the domestic affairs of the country and trying to rush towards an early election.”

The MDP meanwhile issued a statement reiterating its support for the roadmap and a peaceful solution to the crisis, but placed an early election date as a precondition to continued progress – both in the talks, and parliament, which it contends Dr Waheed has no right to address as an “illegitimate” president.

“In-line with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and others, we understand the importance of dialogue, especially in the Majlis, as a means of resolving the political deadlock in the country,” said the party’s spokesperson, Hamid Abdul Ghafoor.

“However, we also believe that in order to have a focused dialogue inside and outside parliament there must be a clear commitment by Dr. Waheed to elections by a certain date during 2012. When that date is announced, all parties can and must work together to ensure the conditions are set for the conduct of those elections. MDP will certainly play its part in that regard.”

Ghafoor also expressed regret over “isolated incidents of violence both by and against protesters and at any injuries caused. MDP again calls on all those participating in protests to do so peacefully and within the law and to show maximum restraint.”

International community responds

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a statement, expressing “concern about the continued political tensions in the Maldives, which were manifested today in actions that impeded the opening of the Maldives’ parliament.”

“The Secretary-General urges all parties concerned to resume immediately their political dialogue, both in and outside parliament, in order to find a mutually agreeable way forward on the basis of the Constitution and without jeopardizing the democratic gains achieved thus far in the Maldives,” the UN said in a statement.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma also issued a statement expressing concern over disruption of parliament, urging for a “swift and dignified State Opening of the Majlis so that pressing national needs can be debated and advanced.”

While freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are core Commonwealth values, so too is constitutional democracy, including respect for the dignity of office-bearers appointed under the constitution and enabling those office-holders to perform their responsibilities fully and freely.

“Parliament is the heart of a democracy. The Commonwealth finds it unacceptable that the State Opening of the Majlis of Maldives has been disrupted, and the offices of the President and Speaker have been seriously disrespected,” the Commonwealth said in a statement.

“While freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are core Commonwealth values, so too is constitutional democracy, including respect for the dignity of office-bearers appointed under the constitution and enabling those office-holders to perform their responsibilities fully and freely.”

The Commonwealth has meanwhile appointed Sir Donald McKinnon as Special Envoy to Maldives, following consultations with political leaders in the country.

“These are very serious times for Maldives. Cooperation and a shared sense of national interest are required, as well as restraint. Our Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group is understandably deeply concerned, and is committed to working with Maldives in a constructive and positive way. The Commonwealth at large is fully committed to assisting Maldives,” said Secretary-General Sharma.

“Maldives has committed itself to the Commonwealth’s values and principles, which include constitutional democracy, the rule of law and separation of powers, and human rights. Our principles include consensus and common action, mutual respect, legitimacy, transparency and accountability. These are the foundations on which an enduring, prosperous and peaceful future for Maldives can be built.”

“I am delighted that Sir Donald has agreed to serve as my Special Envoy. He will visit Maldives to promote the consolidation of democratic culture and institutions, and Commonwealth values and principles; to encourage inclusive agreement among political leaders on a way forward from the current political situation; and, to oversee further Commonwealth support for Maldives, including a new technical assistance programme aimed principally at strengthening the judiciary.”

Sir Donald McKinnon is a former Commonwealth Secretary-General from 2000-2008, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand.

During his tenure as Secretary-General, he led the Commonwealth’s support for Maldives’ transition to multiparty democracy. He previously brokered a peace accord in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, for which he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He was also decorated with the highest award in New Zealand (Order of New Zealand), and awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order by Queen Elizabeth II.

Political stasis threatens tourism

Ongoing political instability threatens the tourism industry, the Maldives Association for Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) has said, issuing a statement expressing concern that tourists “will have apprehensions about visiting the Maldives if the ongoing political unrest and demonstrations turn violent.”

“A democracy will have protests, tourists know that too, and the resorts in Maldives are situated separately and far from the capital Male and other inhabited islands, so protesting wouldn’t harm the tourists,” said Secretary General of MATATO Mohamed Maleeh Jamal.

However ongoing political strife had smeared the peaceful image of the holiday destination, he said, and emphasised furthe efforts to promote the industry.

“Even now tourists who come to Male are seeing the protests, some refuse to visit Male’ and souvenir shops and guest houses located in Male have suffered because of it,” Jamal said.

Widespread media coverage of the country’s political unrest could cost the tourism industry as much as US$100 million in the next six months, the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) has warned.

“Various allegations such as the installation of an Islamic regime, possible enactment of full Sharia law and Anti Semitic remarks made by politicians at public gatherings have also caught the attention of the international press,” MATI stated.

While the resorts are largely segregated from the rest of the Maldives, the crisis – prompted by a change in government on February 7 in what the MDP contends was a police and military-backed coup d’état – has already impacted investor confidence and foreign aid, and is threatening sensitive markets such as China.

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Criminal Court extends detention of 61 arrested protesters

The criminal court has extended the detention period of 61 protesters arrested on Thursday, in opposition to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan giving the presidential address to open the first session of parliament.

Police had arrested 67 protesters on the day, but released six of them later. Minivan News understands that those detained include former President Mohamed Nasheed’s brother, Nazim Sattar.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) called on police to immediately release of the detainees last night. MDP in a press statement stated: “The families of the detained are extremely concerned and some of the families have suffered psychologically following the arrests of the detainees.”

MDP also called on the courts to make their judgements freely and impartially to ensure the people’s trust in the judiciary was not tarnished any further.

“The detention extension issued by the courts regarding the protesters who had been arrested was against legal principles,” said member of MDP’s legal team and Chairman of the MDP Legal Affairs Committee, Ahmed Abdullah Afeef, in a press conference held by MDP on Friday night.

Afeef also stated that the detention extension had been carried out “unfairly”, and alleged that the whole process had been “pre-planned” before the protesters were even taken into the court.

“Police had no evidence to prove to the court that there was a legitimate reason to extended the detention periods. The actions of the criminal court imply more of a personal vendetta rather than an impartial decision,” said Afeef.

Afeef observed that during protests that took place during December 2011 under Nasheed’s government, police had sought the detention of several protesters, providing photo and video evidence proving attacks on police, but the criminal court had rejected it and released those detained.

Afeef said that the party would appeal the decisions of the Criminal Court and said the case would be filed in High Court today. Afeef also added that High Court has said that they will hold a hearing today.

Speaking to Minivan News today at the High Court building, Afeef said: “What we are trying to say is that there maybe people amongst the protesters who should be arrested, but it has to be done based on evidence.”

“As a principle, the judge would not know what happened at the protests. Decisions from a judge should come based on evidence. Here in this case, the police could not provide any evidence, but yet still the judge issued the detention extensions,” he said.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today that 61 people arrested during the protests are in police custody, “all of them had arrested attempting to break through police lines, or attacking police officers. We have evidence and the investigation process is going on currently. We will submit that evidence to the authorities as well,” Shiyam said.

Fourteen police officers were injured on Thursday in skirmishes with demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks at officers. Four were seriously injured, and one officer was flown to Sri Lanka for further treatment.

Minivan News also observed police in riot gear cracking down protesters near the Reefside Shop in Chaandhanee Magu, without advance notice. Three protesters were taken into custody at the scene.

Questioned about the incident, Shiyam said that the people who are currently arrested were those who had “attacked the police officers”, that the others had been released.

The High Court was yet to announce the appeal hearings at the time of press.

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Q&A: Al Jazeera interviews President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan

Al Jazeera’s 101 East program has conducted an in-depth interview with new President of the Maldives, Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan. The original interview can be seen on Al Jazeera’s website. The transcript below was provided by Al Jazeera.

Fauziah Ibrahim: Let’s start with the events on Feb 7 when President Nasheed resigned. He says that it was under duress. Was it a coup?

Dr Mohamed Waheed: It wasn’t a coup. It’s been portrayed in the Western media as a coup d’etat. But the president resigned voluntarily. We have pictures of him having a Cabinet meeting following which he writes his own letter of resignation. And in front of the television camera, he announced he was resigning with his Cabinet standing behind him. He could have indicated even indirectly even if he was under duress. He didn’t. It took 24 hours before he changed his mind. I am convinced that he resigned voluntarily.

FI: Doesn’t it disturb you though that your presidency is being challenged and being undermined by these accusations?

DMW: Of course these are unfair accusations. We were totally unprepared, it took us by surprise. And therefore, we could not get our message across to the rest of the world, to tell them about our understanding, to tell what actually happened. He had the machinery already in place because all these people were appointed by him from his party only. And therefore all shifted with him to his house and began the media campaign to show to the rest of the world it was a coup d’etat. It wasn’t a coup d’etat, if you think it was do you think he would be out here talking to you and everybody else? You know there’s no restriction on his freedom and he is moving around. We have a democracy and we are respecting it. We welcome an independent investigation to find out exactly what happened. We will not be in the way of finding out the truth.

FI: We have seen footage of security forces out on the streets; we have seen people demanding for the resignation of the then president Nasheed. Mainly these people have been the security officers. That’s what we are seeing from the video. Also, we have video footage of your current defense minister entering the barracks and then coming out of the barracks demanding the President’s resignation. We see him also in the President’s office just before and just after the resignation. Now, at that point he was just a civilian. Why was a civilian given so much privilege access?

DMW: I have no idea because I was not part of what happened that day.

FI: Did you know this was going to happen?

DMW: No, absolutely not.

FI: But you met with opposition parties before this happened.

DMW: The opposition call for his resignation has been going on for a very long time. For almost three weeks we had serial demonstrations every night in Male, calling for the President’s resignation for various reasons. And when this thing happened, nobody expected this to happen. My understanding of the issue was that the president was issuing unlawful orders to the security forces and at some point, they decided that enough was enough and they were not going to listen to him. And that’s when he decides that he was going to submit his resignation. But he changed his mind afterwards.

FI: Why do you think he changed his mind? Why do you think he is now saying it was a coup?

DMW: I think he just lost it. He lost it and realised what a blunder he had made. Maybe this was a trick he was playing on the people; I don’t know. But he resigned voluntarily and in front of the camera. He could have said under the circumstances, I am being forced to resign, but he didn’t. He didn’t give any indication, any clue. He could have called me and said “Waheed, I am being forced to resign.”

FI: What would you have done?

DMW: I would not have taken the oath of office if he had said that. He should have called me, he didn’t. He called some of the ambassadors in this country asking for help, he called some of his party members, and he called the rest of the Cabinet in his office but he didn’t talk to me.

FI: Why do you think he didn’t call you, is because he didn’t trust you?

DMW: We haven’t been talking for a while except in the….

FI: Is it because he thought you were not part of his plans in the Maldives?

DMW: We all fought for democracy in the country. It was not a reversal. I was part of the democracy movement as well.

FI: It does seem like a reversal though now that you have appointed this particular civilian, a retired colonel as the defense minister, you have appointed Mohamed Jameel Ahmed Home Minister both of whom are known as supporters of ex-President Gayoom. You have also appointed Dunya Maumoon who is Gayoom’s daughter as the state minister of foreign affairs. Are we about to see Maldives slide back into dictatorship here?

DMW: I have also appointed to the Cabinet people from seven other parties. I am trying to form a national unity government. I want everyone to participate.

FI: But everyone is looking at the security forces and they are saying the people who head this security forces are Gayoom’s supporters.

DMW: That is not true. The Home Minister is not from Gayoom’s party. In fact, the current Home Minister was in Nasheed’s government. President Nasheed came to power in a coalition. He was unable to win by himself. We brought in other parties and we won the election. But soon after the elections, he decided to go back on his words. And get everybody out of the government. The Home minister was one of them and what we saw progressively after that was a gradual reversal of democracy. The head of state began doing things that were unconstitutional like locking up the supreme court, arbitrarily arresting political leaders and detaining them without charge, and finally we have this very bizarre situation where the president orders the military to arrest a serving judge.

FI: During these events, you served as vice-president. Did you object to his actions?

DMW: Yes, I objected and advised the president that it was not the way to go about it.

FI: Did he take your advice?

DMW: He does not take anyone’s advice. He is not somebody who takes people’s advice.

FI: Why didn’t you as vice-president then resign?

DMW: I spoke out; I said this is not the way to do things. I don’t particularly like these people or the judge, I don’t know him. This is not the way to go about it. There are constitutional ways where these things have to be done.

FI: Do you trust the judiciary in the Maldives?

DMW: I trust the judiciary but it has its problems.

FI: What sort of problems?

DMW: There are problems in the sense that it has to be strengthened like in the use of modern evidence; I would like to see that the judiciary becomes more independent; that they have more resources.

FI: It has been said that the judiciary in the Maldives cannot be trusted and it is corrupt and basically supports the Gayoom regime?

DMW: No, no, no. This is not rue. The Supreme Court was appointed by the president himself. He was the one who nominated the Supreme Court judges.

FI: When you took office, several high profile officials overseas resigned. Among them are the Maldivian ambassador to the UN who went live on Aljazeera, the High Commissioner to the UK also resigned, the Deputy High Commissioner who happens to be your own brother also resigned. He said he did not know why you were favouring Gayoom. He warned you not to join the people of the autocratic ruler Gayoom. How do you feel when you are being connected to the former dictatorial regime?

DMW: The High Commissioner and the deputy high commissioner who happens to be my brother were all appointed by Nasheed. Their loyalty is clearly with the former president. Most of the educated people in this country were educated in the last 30 to 35 years. And out of that, former President Gayoom ruled this country for about 30 years. So it is very difficult to find people here who have not served with President Gayoom or who have not been with this government. If you look at the closest people to former President Nasheed you will find that there were a lot of people with him were also with former President Gayoom and his government. So it is an unfair accusation that I am taking particularly side with Gayoom. That’s not true; of course I want all political parties to be involved in a political process. Therefore, it is also proper that we must bring people from his party in.

FI: Do you not think that the specter of Gayoom looms large over Maldives and this is why you have this political turmoil now?

DMW: Not entirely. Of course Gayoom is a factor because he got 40 percent of the votes in the last election. You know, he still has some support. The man has got to be given a little bit of respect.

FI: Do you want him to be here?

DMW: If he wants to that is his right. But there are other political leaders in the country now. There are other political parties here now. They all want to be part of the political process, not to be alienated. We need to have an inclusive process in which more political parties must be involved. We simply cannot swipe all the other parties off. This is the problem.

FI: It’s certainly very honorable that you want a unity government, that you want all the parties together in order to progress the Maldivian democracy. However it’s also been said there are larger powers than you who are the machinations behind what is happening in the Maldives. You are merely a puppet. Now what do you say to that.

DMW: No, this is not true. Because I have said, I have my terms on my coalition partners who are now coming into the government. What I am saying is that you guys nominate the people and I will put them into the Cabinet. It’s my choice where I put these people. And I also don’t want them to talk to me about the vice-president’s post because that has to be somebody who I choose and somebody who I think is not involved in politics and so on. I believe that is very important this time to build confidence in the government, in the political process. The best I can do at the moment is to facilitate the process that brings people together and create some healing. There are some deep rifts in politics in the Maldives at the moment and the way to go forward is not violence, or not coming out on to the streets. The only violence that has happened here is because of former President Nasheed. There is no other violence here.

FI: Much of the current political turmoil started in September last year (2011) when the Islamist group Adhaalath left Nasheed’s coalition saying that he was not doing enough to strengthen Islam in the Maldives. Do you think Islam needs to be strengthened in this country?

DMW: This is a Muslim country. Of course there will be some political parties that will promote Islamic values. This is also true in other countries. Even in Western countries there are political parties which espouse religious values. So as a Muslim country, you shouldn’t be surprised that there are one or two parties that will talk about this. You must understand in the Islamic world there is a whole range of views on what an Islamic society should look like. And in this country and in my Cabinet, we have a range of views. Most of the people in this country are educated. We have a 96 percent literacy rate and most of our young people have gone abroad and studied in Western universities. We have emulated liberal democratic values in our country.

FI: And yet there is a rising growing Islamic fundamentalist movement in this country as well. Do you think Shariah law will work in the Maldives as some are calling for?

DMW: You see, even now our legal system is based on the Shariah and the civil law.

FI: Do you think full shariah law should be or can be implemented in the country?

DMW: Well, it is for our parliament to decide. That’s what a democracy is all about.

FI: I put it to you that perhaps democracy does not work in the Maldives. We have seen Gayoom’s dictatorship end after 30 years. Then we have seen Nasheed come in and try o implement democracy. You are alleging that he was dictatorial in some of his ways. Perhaps democracy does not work in the Maldives because this is a country that bases itself on personalities rather than policies. Is this right?

DMW: This is what we are trying to change. We started a journey of a democracy and we want this to be on the path. These are some of the challenges that we face. But we are increasingly moving towards a society where first of all we uphold our constitution, we respect the rule of law and then we don’t have people who practice dictatorial methods. We have independent institutions, we have the human rights commission, the anti-corruption commission and an independent auditor general and so on. They have to be empowered to make sure there are enough checks and balances so that people don’t go in on autocratic directions.

This is a struggle, and this struggle did not start only in 2008. It started a long time ago and we all have suffered in the process and therefore we have a stake in succeeding in democracy. And democracy will continue, there is no doubt about it. I have no doubt that democracy is for all of us. It is not only a Western concept. We have grown up with these values and we want to live with these values. We want to live ion a democratic free society and I think it can be done in Maldives. But people have to give in a little bit, you every time you don’t like something that happens you can’t go out on the streets and start pledging and burning places. This is a more advanced country; we have more educated people here. It’s a peaceful place and we cannot give this kind of shock to the people in this country. It’s not fair.

FI: Mr President, thank you for speaking with us.

DMW: Thank you.

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Detained Indian fishermen released

Eleven Indian fishermen have been released after they were last week taken into custody by the Maldives National Defence Force Coastguard for straying into Maldivian waters.

The fishermen were released into the care of the Indian High Commission in Male’, police reported, after a request by India’s External Affairs Ministry.

The fishermen had been detained on Kulhudhuffushi in Haa Dhaal Atoll.

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Richard Branson calls for early elections “as soon as feasibly possible”

Founder of the Virgin empire, multi-billionaire Sir Richard Branson, has again delved into Maldivian politics with a third blog post on the subject, declaring his support for early elections “as soon as feasibly possible”.

Branson first wrote an open letter calling on “interim” President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan to “do the right thing” and hold free and fair elections before the end of the year, describing it as “completely astounding that you have been part of an overthrow of a democratically elected government that has effectively let the old regime back into power.”

Several days later he had a phone call with Dr Waheed, and subsequently said he believed the new president was “determined to be an honest broker” who “had nothing to do with [the coup]. He watched the situation unfolding on television.”

Branson’s third and most recent post came after “a lengthy conversation with former President Mohamed Nasheed”, who “wanted to be sure that it was completely clear what had happened in the Maldives.”

“Mr Nasheed said that he had been overthrown by a coup. He said that the confusion about what happened in the first two days came about because he was forced to remain in the Presidential Palace in order to keep him away from the press, was therefore incommunicado, and only managed to escape after a couple of days,” Branson wrote.

“He said that he was very concerned the Maldives could become another Afghanistan. He believes that the way to resolve this is for interim President Waheed to step down and for The Speaker to hold court for two months.
He said he sees no reason why there shouldn’t be early elections during this calendar year, preferably within two-to-three months. The people of this country, he said, need to be asked as soon as possible who they want to rule them. The Maldives and the Maldivians urgently need to get back on track.

“He believed that there was is Islamic element of the military and mentioned that some of them chanted on the street “God is great”. He said that the new government had thrown out all human rights cases and corruption cases, which he felt was wrong. He said that some of his MPs had been removed, others had court cases brought against them.

“He ended by saying: ‘Governments should only be changed through the ballot box and not by any other means. No military in the world should be allowed to take over a Government and hold on to it.’

“We now have both sides of the story,” Branson declared.

“Having listened to both sides, it does seem wise for an election to take place as soon as is feasibly possible so that the people of the Maldives can begin to put this ugly chapter behind them.”

Branson attended the Slow Life Symposium at the upmarket Soneva Fushi resort in October 2011, a highly eco-conscious resort owned by Sonu and Eva Shivdesani.

Other attendees at the resort included actress Daryl Hannah, star of films including ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Kill Bill’ and ‘Splash’; Ed Norton, star of films including ‘Fight Club’ and ‘American History X’; Tim Smit, founder of the Eden Project; Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed; and an array of climate experts and scientists including Mark Lynas and Mike Mason.

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South Asia’s democratic advances shifting into reverse: Daily Star

From the armed coup that recently ousted the Maldives’ first democratically elected president Mohamed Nasheed, to the Pakistani Supreme Court’s current effort to undermine a toothless but elected government by indicting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on contempt charges, South Asia’s democratic advances appear to be shifting into reverse, writes Brahma Chellaney in Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper.

Nasheed’s forced resignation at gunpoint has made the Maldives the third country in the region, after Nepal and Sri Lanka, where a democratic transition has been derailed. The Maldives, a group of strategically located islands in the Indian Ocean, now seems set for prolonged instability.

Political developments in the region underscore the insufficiency of free, fair and competitive elections for ensuring a democratic transition. Elections, by themselves, do not guarantee genuine democratic empowerment at the grassroots level or adherence to constitutional rules by those in power.

As a result of sputtering transitions elsewhere in South Asia, India is now the sole country in the region with a deeply rooted pluralistic democracy. That is not in India’s interest, for it confronts the country with what might be called the “tyranny of geography” – that is, serious external threats from virtually all directions.

Today, political chaos and uncertainty in the region heighten the danger of spillover effects for India, threatening the country’s internal security. An increasingly unstable neighborhood also makes it more difficult to promote regional cooperation and integration, including free trade.

The rise of Islamist groups that has accompanied anti-democratic developments in South Asia represents a further threat to the region. In vandalism reminiscent of the Taliban’s demolition of the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2001, Islamists ransacked the Maldives’ main museum in Male, the capital, on the day Nasheed was ousted, smashing priceless Buddhist and Hindu statues made of coral and limestone, virtually erasing all evidence of the Maldives’ Buddhist past before its people converted to Islam in the 12th century. “The whole pre-Islamic history is gone,” the museum’s director lamented.

Encouraged by opposition politicians, Islamist groups in the Maldives are “becoming more powerful,” according to Nasheed. Likewise, in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the military intelligence agencies have nurtured jihadist groups, employing them for political purposes at home and across national frontiers.

This follows a well-established pattern in the region: autocratic rule has tended to promote extremist elements, especially when those in power form opportunistic alliances with such forces. For example, Pakistan’s thriving jihadist factions arose under two military dictators: Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who used them to confront the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and Pervez Musharraf, who fled to London in 2008 under threat of impeachment and was subsequently charged with involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007 – a milestone in Pakistan’s slide into chaos.

When a democratic experiment gains traction, as in Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, it crimps the extremists’ room for maneuver. But a broader lesson in much of the region is that democratic progress remains reversible unless the old, entrenched forces are ousted and the rule of law is firmly established.

For example, the Maldives’ 2008 democratic election, which swept away decades-old authoritarian rule, became a beacon of hope, which then dissipated in less than four years. As the freshly deposed Nasheed put it, “Dictatorships don’t always die when the dictator leaves office … [L]ong after the revolutions, powerful networks of regime loyalists can remain behind and can attempt to strangle their nascent democracies.”

As its tyranny of geography puts greater pressure on its external and internal security, India will need to develop more innovative approaches to diplomacy and national defense. Only through more vigorous defense and foreign policies can India hope to ameliorate its regional-security situation, freeing it to play a larger global role. Otherwise, it will continue to be weighed down by its region.

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Has India lost the mango and the sack in the Maldives?: South Asia Monitor

Democracy is rough road littered with potholes. Either you avoid them and play safe, or you fill them up for a smoother ride in the future. Mohamed Nasheed did both, writes Sumon Chakrabarti for the South Asia Monitor.

“First, he played safe and then he changed gears to take the problem head-on. But in doing so, he failed to avoid a collision that led to the toppling in a coup of the first-ever democratic government in the Maldives that he headed.

Clearly, Nasheed’s order to arrest Abdulla Mohamed, Chief Judge of Criminal Court, on January 16 was a political blunder. It brought a rainbow coalition of opposition politicians, mega-rich resort owners and radical Islamists out on the streets – united only by their opposition to a nascent, liberal democracy and the reforms it had brought about that are under genuine threat today.

Chief Judge Mohamed, appointed for life by former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was facing investigation by the Judicial Services Commission for political bias and persistent refusal to prosecute cases of corruption and human rights abuses against his mentor and members of his former regime.

Hassan Saeed, Gayoom’s attorney general and now special advisor to new President Dr Mohammed Waheed, had accused him of making derogatory comments against women and even requesting an underage victim of sexual assault to re-enact her abuse in an open court.

Strange bedfellows are not unknown in politics. Judge Abdulla’s arrest galvanised the opposition led by Gayoom’s brother Yameen (who faces charges in a $800 million oil scam, the biggest corruption case in the island nation), the country’s richest businessman Gasim Ibrahim, and radical islamists led by Sheikh Imran of the religious Adhaalath Party.

Emerging details of the lead-up to the coup now point to a political deal struck on the night of January 31 between the former Vice President – and now President – and these forces. On that night, in a press confererence, they had pledged support to Waheed and asked the army and police not to take any orders from Nasheed.

But the big question is: Why did these strange bedfellows come together? The answer, many believe, lies in Malaysia, where former dictator Gayoom – who was defeated by Nasheed in the country’s first democratic elections in 2008 – has conveniently been based since the coup was in the throes of being executed.

That Gayoom, who ruled the country with an iron-first for 30 years, is the uniting force behind the coup-plotters was evident in the initial appointments that Waheed made on taking over the presidency within hours of Nasheed’s forced resignation.

The first two were loyalists of the Gayoom regime – former Justice Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who was named Home Minister, and Mohamed Nazim, a former military officer under Gayoom, who is the new Minister of Defence and National Security.

Within days, he also appointed Gayoom’s spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), as his Minister for Human Resources, Youth and Sports. Gayoom’s lawyer, Azima Shakoor, was named his Attorney General, while the former dictator’s daughter, Dhunya Maumoon, was appointed State Minister for Foreign Affairs.

There was more. Ahmed Mohamed ‘Andey’, CEO of the State Trading Organisation during the Gayoom administration, was named the Minister of Economic Development, while Ahmed Shamheed – a Director at Villa Shipping and Trade, owned by one of the coup plotters Gasim Ibrahim, and the Ministry of Planning and Development in the Gayoom administration – became the Minister of Transport and Communication.

Analysts are asking whether India misread the ongoing political struggle for the second time in four years. On the eve of elections in 2008, the then Indian High Commissioner reported that Nasheed was hardly a force. He recommended continued support to Gayoom. Nasheed won.

Many say that, this time too, reports from the Indian High Commission shaped initial decisions – New Delhi recognised the new regime on February 8, within 24 hours. This was considered a show of undue haste, something the government indirectly hinted at later. Questions are also being asked about what Gayoom’s half-brother Abdullah Yameen, a long-time critic of India, was doing inside the Indian High Commission for over an hour on the morning of the coup, even as Nasheed was being forced by security forces to resign at the headquarters of the Maldives National Defence Force.

Interestingly, an Indian naval ship, INS Suvarna, was in Maldives from February 3. Strangely, the ship was allowed to leave on the morning of February 7, just four or five hours after information of the serious standoff and the plotting of the coup was received. Just the presence of the ship and some marines in the city could have stopped events from unfolding the way they did.

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai soon arrived to Maldives to salvage the situation and called for early elections. The deal was that the new president, Waheed, would announce elections within 24 hours. Nothing happened.

On February 28, Mathai again flew down to the Maldives. This time he proposed to all political parties in Maldives that the amendments to the constitution should be made within one month to pave the way for an early presidential election before December this year. But during the two-hour meeting, he was repeatedly reminded by many from the new government, including Yameen’s party, that the involvement of an outsider in what was an internal matter was not warranted. Even Gayoom’s daughther Dhunya and President Waheed’s spokesperson made some uncharitable comments.

This, after India had handed over $20 million on the evening of February 27 to Mohamed Ahmed, Controller of Finance of the Finance Ministry. Apparently, an additional $50 million is on its way so that Maldives can avoid a sovereign default. All this was happening even as the new government, including the President himself, has backed out from its promise to the Foreign Secretary on holding early elections. The President, Home Minister and State Minister for Foreign Affairs have openly said in the past two days that there is no question of early elections, and that no foreign interference would be tolerated in the matter.

But with lost credibility and a history of dumping friends – from Burma to Bangladesh and now Maldives, the reality is stark – India has, as the saying goes, lost the mango as well as the sack in the Maldives. It has lost the goodwill of every democracy-loving Maldivian and has not gained anything from the new dispensation – backed and aided by a cocktail of the military, police, mafia and radicals.

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“Dark day in constitutional and parliamentary history”: Dr Jameel

The government has responded to the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs’ preventing President Mohamed Waheed Hassan from giving the annual presidential address on March 1, in a press conference on Thursday.

Special Advisor to the President Dr Hassan Saeed, Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel and Attorney General Azima Shukoor, criticised the acts of the MPs, labeling them “uncivilised” and “unethical”.

“President Waheed went to the Majlis at 10:00am and had waited until 6:30pm to execute his constitutional duty,” said Dr Saeed. “He faced enormous challenges and obstruction [from MDP MPs] during this time but tried his best to resolve the situation peacefully until the last minute.”

Dr Saeed said that although he could not deliver his speech in the parliament, he had shared a written copy of his speech with the speaker and members of parliament would have received a copy of it by now.

“After requests from MDP MPs, the President met with them and they did make some proposals. The President, as the head of the state, even acknowledged those proposals but it all went astray at the end of the day,” Dr Saeed said.

“One proposal the MPs made was that instead of political parties negotiating on early elections, they wanted parliament to decide on the matter,” he added.

“The events that happened [in the Majlis] were uncivilised and unethical given the developed era we live in today.”

Home Minister Dr Jameel described Thursday as a “dark day in constitutional and parliamentary history” of the Maldives and acknowledged the patience and determination of the security forces in handling the situation.

“Security forces [police and MNDF] handled the situation with great patience and determination. Many officers sustained various degrees of injuries while controlling the protesters,” Dr Jameel said.

“14 officers sustained injuries, four of which were serious. One officer is still in a critical condition and is being prepared to be flown to Sri Lanka for additional care,” he continued.

He emphasised that the government would take action within the boundaries of the law against everybody who had obstructed the duties of the police, including those currently in police custody.

Dr Jameel noted that after investigation of those arrested, police had found that some of the suspects had tested positive for drugs after urine tests.

“We are now getting evidence that there are unlawful activities going on in the demonstrations held by the MDP,” he claimed.

Attorney General Azima Shukoor stated that she did not believe Dr Waheed had failed in executing his constitutional duties since as per the article 84 of the constitution, the first session of the parliament had not convened.

“According to the article 84 of the constitution, as long as the first session of the parliament has not convened, I do not believe that the president has failed in executing his constitutional duty,” she said.

Article 84 states: “At the beginning of the first session of each year at the first sitting, the President shall address the People’s Majlis [Parliament] on the state of the country, and may present proposals for improving the state of the country to the People’s Majlis.”

Shukoor offered assurances that President Waheed would remain determined to execute his constitutional duties and that he remained willing go to parliament and deliver the presidential address if the speaker and the parliament invited him to do so.

Asked how the government could proceed in passing bills and approving the appointment of ministers, if MDP MPs continued to challenge the government’s legitimacy and obstruct government proposals, Dr Saeed responded that “No one should try to take advantage of the President’s approach of negotiating for a peaceful solution, and no one will succeed. The President will do whatever he can in his capacity to deliver peace and order in the country.

“Those who obstructed the President from delivering the speech were not the majority of the parliament. There were 44 other MPs whose rights were deprived by them,” continued Dr Saeed.

“Whether [the MDP] believe it or not, this government is legitimate. It came to power constitutionally.

“Even if there are questions of legitimacy, this is not the way things have to be done. The international community, including the Commonwealth, have recognised the Commission that the government formed to investigate questions regarding that arose regarding recent events,” continued Saeed.

Dr Jameel said: “The actual answer to the question [you] asked is, we are seeing the behavioral differences between two political groups of the country. That is, since the beginning if anything that goes the way the MDP does not want, they always blame the institutions and the heads of those institutions.

“For instance, look at the example when the court issues a verdict in the case of MP Ismail Abdul Hameed or MP Musthafa, [two MPs who lost the seats recently]. [They claimed] the courts were at fault and they did not recognise the courts. MP Reeko Moosa Manik created his own court and issued verdicts. Where in the world does that happen? I am surprised because journalists don’t notice that,” Jameel said.

Jameel went on to state that “They [former government] arrested people the way they want and did not get their custodial period extended, for example the way they arrested me, I think they made a world record by summoning a politician six times in one week to the police station and keeping me very brutally in isolation at Dhoonidhoo island on three occasions just because of an opinion I expressed.”

Jameel continued “Minivan news is a newpaper which advocates freedom of expression as I heard, but even in Minivan News I highlight with regret that I don’t think they had reported this case, also I heard there was a group who advocated for detainees rights but they chose to remain silent when we were arrested, also they went to the court and said that we got orders from above to arrest Jameel. This is what the court said. Because it failed the courts were at fault [for MDP]”

Jameel also said that the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Attorney General’s office had all been portrayed as at fault because they had issued statements that were against what MDP had wanted.

The police and the Maldives National Defence force had been painted as at fault by the MDP, Dr Jameel claimed, “because they had only asked then government not to issue unlawful orders. So [the MDP portrayed] them as the worst people that ever created. These are examples that can be seen.”

Jameel reiterated that when DRP was in opposition they had “never had hijacked the parliament when the President arrived to deliver the speech.”

Minivan News asked whether the government would continue to seek to negotiate a political solution for the situation, to which Dr Saeed responded: “This government is not a government that will declare war against parliament. If a bill or a policy that the government proposes is rejected by the parliament, we will not arrest MPs for charges of acting against the state. We will not keep MPs on Aarah for 10 days.”

“I assure that even if the most important policy of President Waheed does not pass, he will not take any action against the parliament. Cabinet Ministers won’t resign. He won’t protest in front of the parliament building. We assure you that from President Waheed.”

Dr Saeed also said that the policies Dr Waheed would propose would not be his own policies, or those of the coalition he represents, but would rather be in the best interest of the people. He also stated that Waheed’s policies would “not contradict the oath of the MPs as well.”

Shukoor responding, stating that “In the question of legitimacy, the opposition during Nasheed’s presidency questioned his legitimacy as well. But during that term, the legitimacy was not a problem because the constitution states that for any reason if the president resigns, the vice president would take his place. That’s what is in the constitution.”

“We are speaking of an early election not because we have a legal issue here, nor there is a question of legitimacy of the current government, but to find a political solution. We are calling to amend the constitution for an early election because there are no stipulations that allow an early election to be called.”

“It is very clear. The vice president can remain till the end of the term [after assuming presidency]. It is stated in the constitution so there are no issues of legitimacy here,” she claimed.

“The current president who is in power is the person people voted for in case the serving president was unable to continue his term in any circumstance, so even looking at the political purpose here, there is no question of legitimacy here.”

“When you say a sizable amount of MPs are questioning the president’s legitimacy, I believe the national flag was torn off [in the parliament chamber] not because there was a question of legitimacy of the president, thiswas is very clear. That the speaker was unable to get into the parliament chamber was not an issue concerning the legitimacy of the president.”

Shukoor said that even if the legitimacy question was there, no one should dishonor the national flag as the national flag was legitimate.

During the scuffles in parliament, Minivan News observed from the press gallery that the national flag was knocked over while MDP MPs sought to remove the Speaker’s chair, but was quickly returned to its original position.

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Maldives could be a foretaste of the Arab Winter: Nasheed

Even after its democratic revolution in 2008, few saw the Maldives as a political trend-setter, writes former President Mohamed Nasheed for Foreign Policy magazine.

“Yet, in retrospect, the ousting of a 30-year dictatorship in a Muslim country was a precursor to the Arab Spring revolts that swept across the Middle East two years later. As in Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia, the Maldivians who took to the streets, confronting the regime’s riot police, and demanding change in 2008 were youthful, full of aspirations for a better economic future, and tired of the iron-fisted autocratic rule of a dictator – Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. I was elected president in the first-ever multi-party polls in the Maldives’ 2,500-year history, on a ticket of civil liberties, freedom of the press, and democratic change.

Fast-forward to this month, when the forces of autocracy in the Maldives staged a sudden and brutal coup d’etat. Rogue elements in the police and military joined together to seize the main television station, ransack the offices of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party, and force my own resignation with threats of bloodshed. In the days that followed I, and many of my fellow democrats, were beaten and imprisoned, and the young democracy we have worked so hard to nurture has been left in mortal danger.

If the Maldives was a precursor to the Arab Spring, let us hope that it is not now a foretaste of a new Arab Winter. There is still time for democracy to recover in my country, but only if the wider world insists that a forceful coup against an elected government cannot be allowed to stand.

For the past three years, despite setbacks and sustained opposition from remnants of the old regime in the judiciary and parliament, things had been getting gradually better. My government inherited what the World Bank described as “the worst economic conditions of any country undergoing democratic reform since the 1950s,” yet with the help of the International Monetary Fund we managed to slash the budget deficit from 22 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 to 9 percent last year.

Moreover, we were on track to deliver on nearly all of our election pledges: a public transport ferry system connecting all of our disparate islands was set up; a pension system for the elderly along with universal health insurance was put in place; the country’s first university was established; import duties on staple goods were removed; and drug addicts, of which the Maldives regrettably has many, were no longer treated as criminals but as victims in need of care and rehabilitation.

To help pay for the creation of a basic social safety net, a modern taxation system was also created. A “goods and services tax” was established, as was a corporation tax to provide a secure basis for government finances. And this year, we were planning to introduce a small income tax for the first time in the country’s history.

We also tried to reform the judiciary. Many judges remained under the effective control of the former regime and were blocking corruption and embezzlement cases involving members of Gayoom’s administration. This January, in a move that proved controversial, I ordered the military to arrest a notorious Criminal Court judge, who had quashed his own police arrest warrant, after he was found guilty of misconduct by the Judicial Services Commission – the body responsible for monitoring judges’ behavior.

The government requested the Commonwealth and the United Nations to intervene and help reform the judiciary root and branch. Following the arrest warrant, some of Gayoom’s supporters staged nightly protests calling for the judge’s release but the numbers protesting on the streets were small, just 200-400. Little did my government know the enormity of what they were plotting.

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