Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has urged Maldivians to join his Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) if they wish to safeguard democracy and the role of Islam in the country.
Speaking at a rally in the island of Fuvahmulah yesterday (April 12) to mark the official launching of PPM’s presidential campaign, Gayoom reportedly called on all Maldivians wishing for democracy to prevail in the nation to join with his party.
“Some people keep talking about parties forming coalitions, that they are forming alliances with others,” he was reported by Sun Online as saying.
“What I want to say is, if any of you want a perfect democracy, if any of you want Islam be sustained in the Maldives, if any of you want Maldivian sovereignty to be protected, I would like to ask that person to quickly join PPM.”
Gayoom autocratically ruled the Maldives for 30 years until being defeated by a coalition of parties backing former President Mohamed Nasheed in the country’s first democratic mutli-party elections in 2008.
Speaking to Minivan News today, PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that Gayoom has long been established as being committed to upholding the country’s religious values and sovereignty.
Nihan said that since the PPM’s formation in 2011, the party had sought to prioritise defending the nation’s sovereignty and Islamic faith as outlined in the constitution.
He added that even before the PPM was formed by a breakaway faction within the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) – which Gayoom established back in 2005 – preserving Islam as the country’s only religion and protecting local culture has been a key focus for Gayoom’s supporters.
Addressing these supporters during last night’s rally, PPM presidential candidate Abdulla Yameen pledged to reform the taxation system and attract large foreign direct investment to the Maldives.
Yameen argued that levying a tax on “the person who imports the noodles packet” was better than taxing the consumer who buys it.
PPM would “revolutionise” how the state raises revenue, local media reported Yameen as saying.
Meanwhile, in his speech at the Fuvahmulah rally, Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed called on all parties in the government coalition to back PPM in the presidential election.
Jameel joined Yameen’s campaign team during the recently concluded PPM presidential primary. The home minister currently faces a no-confidence motion in parliament.
Jameel’s Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has recently announced its intention to form a coalition with President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s Gaumee Ihthihad Party (GIP) for the September election.
DQP Leader Dr Hassan Saeed previously said that the party would not consider forming a coalition with either PPM or the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
“Weakening faith”
Meanwhile, speaking on Thursday (April 11) during an ongoing tour of North Maalhosmadulu Atoll, President Dr Mohamed Waheed expressed concern that “weakening faith” among Maldivians was allowing unspecified “foreign powers” to increase influence over the country.
“Our national anthem, national flag, and national colours that symbolize the country should come first,” read an official President’s Office statement quoting Dr Waheed.
His comments were slammed by the opposition MDP, which accused him of being double-faced, while also using the language of a “dictator”.
MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor rejected suggestions that President Waheed stood as a unifying force for Islam in the Maldives, accusing him of politicising the nation’s faith for his own gain.
Hamid claimed that many Maldivians were aware that the president had sought to “play Islam” for political gain since he took office following the controversial transfer of power in February 2012.
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“What I want to say is, if any of you want a perfect democracy, if any of you want Islam be sustained in the Maldives, if any of you want Maldivian sovereignty to be protected, I would like to ask that person to quickly join PPM.”
Let me translate this for you.
"If you want my family to rule over you in the same vein as the golden 30 years, then join PPM. If you want the brand of Islam that I prescribe on you, then join PPM. If you want to be forever enslaved to the elite few in power, then please join PPM. If you don't mind my family and friends taking advantage of you and the country's wealth, then by all means, do join PPM."
Everyone else, please go and find another party to join. The old bugger has a nerve doesn't he?
Revolutionary taxation policy of PPM: "Yameen argued that levying a tax on “the person who imports the noodles packet” was better than taxing the consumer who buys it."
Hahaaaaaaaa! Genius! And this comes from the greatest "economist" that the Maldives has ever had the misfortune to have. There are two explanations for this beyond belief stupidity from Yameen.
(1) He really believes that islanders are morons and gullible fools who will listen to whatever he says.
(2) Yameen knows sod all about taxation or finance!
I believe the answer is a combination of (1) and (2). Even the poor gullible falklanders understand that if you tax "the person who imports the noodles packet", that extra cost will be passed on to "the person who buys the noodles packet".
As Mark Twain said, it is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. Yameen forgot to heed that one.
Gayoom thinks all others are non Muslim in the Maldives. He claims that he is one of the Prophet sent after Prophet Mohamed.What a bloody idiot he is.
This is a kind of prophecy he is completing.
Ladhuge kanfuleh vess nathey.
Realise what they are doing? They are trying to use your religion to control us and get votes for themselves! Do not let them. How come the "progressive" party supports regressive ideologies? Let's ask ourselves that.
Religion does not need protection by the government. People do! Put country and people first. NOT RELIGION! If people want to be good muslims they can do so at their own volition. At the same time, if someone leaves islam, that should be fine too. They are still a good person with real values, morals, dreams and people whom they love and receive love back from. They deserve just as much as everyone else.
The government has no business butting into something this personal. Just listen to these latest rhetorics. You do not want these people in government. They will lead us into situations like the one developing in egypt and even earlier in afghanistan.
Call for freedom! Call for the end of barbaric practices and the spreading of extremism. Please do not call for a government that is for islam. Call for a government for the people!
Gayyoom's Kaaminocracy politics invites Maldivians to pink islam and pinkcromacy. If you dont then its your decision to go to Hell.
A load of bull crap by an aging dictator.
His hidden agenda is as visible as that cowardly laugh you see!
We have seen enough and more of his democracy and Islam.
Next parliament should amend the constitution and bring this loony to answer the people who he duped!
This from the man who allowed his citizens to be tortured and imprisoned so that he could stay in power! This from the man who used Islam to sustain his power and keep the majority of our nation in ignorance and poverty! This from the man who conveniently forgot that good governance is more than defrauding the country to empower his own family and the elite of the society!
And he talks of democracy and acts as its champion!
Listen up Gayoom! Those days are gone. Our eyes are wide open and unlike the gullible few who still hang around you, we see right through you.
How dare you insult our intelligence!
You may continue to use the power you stole from us through trickery and brute force. You and your family may continue to live in denial. But, don’t continue to assume that the nation is listening.
To do that is down-right STUPID.
When GST is imposed the burden of the tax is passed directly on to the customer. However, when import duty is imposed in some instances the burden of the tax is not passed on to the customer in totality. Sometimes due to market conditions the seller or importer bears part of the burden in order to make his product more competitive in the market.
What a b*****d .
Gayoom still love to live in the luxury build by him on Government assets which cast about $3000 Million a year for him and his family to live
@Gabulhi Katheeb on Sat, 13th Apr 2013 8:31 PM
"When GST is imposed the burden of the tax is passed directly on to the customer. However, when import duty is imposed in some instances the burden of the tax is not passed on to the customer in totality. "
Look this is all very simples. You are trying to confuse the issue. Let's take a concrete example. Imagine an item that costs MRf 100.
(1) If GST is 20%, and import duty is 0%, then the MRf 20 goes to the government.
(2) Now abolish the GST and put import duty at 20% on that item. Once again, MRf 20 goes to the government.
So, what's the difference between (1) and (2). From a cash flow point of view, they are identical. In both cases, the trader is free to charge the customer whatever he wants for this item, and market forces impact identically in cases (1) and (2).
Case (2) is more open to corruption at the point of import. There have numerous high profile cases where the price of the import was artificially lowered in order to reduce the duty paid. Customs officers sometimes collude with importers and is a lucrative environment for corrupt officials.
With GST, there is no longer an incentive for the importer to dupe the state. Now do you understand why Yameen might be in favour of abolishing GST and imposing import duties? Yes, you got it! The chance to make a lot of money by corruption and underhand deals! The likes of Jangiyaa Nazim will be smiling from ear to ear.
Moreover, GST also harmonises taxation on different classes of good and especially services. You cannot charge import duty on services! Forward thinking countries all over the world use GST for these reasons.
Hahahahaha . Fu?k off gayoom !
Old tactics and strategies at play. Before we criticize we need to learn from him. Afterall, he dictated us for over 30 years.
RELIGION
Gayoom wants faith and religion to be shaken and unsettled in the Maldives. He wants the threat of radicalisation to be strong as ever. Why? so that alot of scared people will subscribe to the "peaceful" times when faith, islam and government were seamlessly orchestrated by him.
DEMOCRACY
When Gayoom talks about democracy it is nothing but a fad. In the aftermath of Evan Naseem's death, Gayoom went on TV and said Maldivians are not ready for a democracy yet. This is still his stand today. He believes he could bring democracy in a much better way than MDP or anyone else could. To be precise, a more controlled way where his personal interests, those of his family and associates are not compromised. The resources of the country was their livlihood for the last 30 years. It would be hard for their to stomach loosing it to the common people who were at their beck and call all these years. But this ideology just does not fly the way it used to.
DUMB MALDIVIANS
The Gayooms believe given the right bribe and vague promise of a development, Maldivians in these small islands will whimsically vote as they wish. Afterall the people have voted for him whilst living houses made of coral, with unstable electricity, virtually no proper irrigation network and mediocre schools for their children. Maumoon's encouraged people to have the relaxed chilled life on the paradisiacal islands so they could enjoy the richest unknown to the islanders. Occasionally Maumoon would promise a harbor, a mosque or a school. But that was just about it. People were made to believe they deserved anything beyond and are inferior to the elitists.
Even today, Yamin - hailed as the great economic saviour - still cannot come out with a policy assuming Maldivians are intelligent. He promises "youth, economy and hope" but what does this mean and how does that translate to reality? people want to know?
Compare that against a manifesto that promises better housing, free healthcare, share of tourism to the common man, interatoll transportation - An intelligent person would believe Yamin the great of lacking imagination.
But this too is also by design. when they put Yamin in the front, they thought they had pressed the refresh button on the old regime. However, Today's media is too savvy and opposition too outspoken, people know It is still Maumoon's old tunes at play, except this time, played with a new modern instrument.
IN THE END
The fight between these two ideologies will play out coming months. Whatever said and done, MDP's manifesto is hands down better for the people as it assumed people are intelligent enough to make their own choices. Gayoom and whoever joins that crowd is just subscribing to the old ways where their minds will be kept with set parameters so that the elitists can only enjoy the spoils this country has offered to everyone born into it.
Hakeem, You have not proven my point wrong. You are assuming in the first example ceteris paribus. In the real world this is not the case. Competition and elasticity of demand for the product in question will influence the price and the seller or importer has to share the burden of import duty in the form of reduced price rather than passing it on to the consumer. You got the drift?
In the second example you are talking about corruption. In GST fraud is rampant too. Needless for me to explain how it is being done.
The fact is you just cannot say import duty is bad for the customer over GST. The problem in the Maldives the people in charge these days have an extra sense like me. That is why I am talking none sense for you.
do maldivians find this old bandicoot enchanting with his rhetoric gibberish?
Old guy sure is sensing a chance for him to make a comeback. Given the situation, I fear he may.