“Politics is a dirty game.” I still remember this sentence as a teacher of mine said seven years back.
If politic ever was a game, surely that game is been played here in Maldives in the past 3 to 4 years. Unlike before, now there are two teams on the ground; the government and the oppositions.
Today as the president ratified and the country adopted the new constitution, let’s look back and see how well we have done. We are trying to bring democracy to our country. In order to achieve this goal, we need to change the constitution and implement the changes to the political system accordingly. Now the constitution is rectified, we have reached the half time of the match. Let’s look back! There will be more than enough to talk about what went well, so I’d talk about what didn’t go as it should.
Government
The announcement of the Reform Agenda by the president Maumoon Abdul Gayyom, on 9th June 2004 was followed by days the history of this nation cannot afford to forget. The huge protest and the iron fist showed by the government and the military against the protesters is a big icon of this change. At least there were many incidences where police and the people confronted. This wasn’t a very green signal for a democracy. Many questioned about the faith of the government in the process. The mysterious death of Ivan Naseem happened to be the beginning, which later followed by late Hussain Solah. The arrest of the MDP chair person for a ‘security reason’, the use of the government employees as an indirect weapon were mistakes that never should have occurred. It will be a big mistake for any government to ignore a part of the population. Even if I don’t want to say, all can see the difference between Male’ and the rest of the Maldives. Unfortunately the people were given the right to express without letting them know what it is. Many people were misleading, either by the government or the oppositions, simply because people were not aware enough. At last but not the least, the failure to switch away from the old pattern of one family system was the big barrier which still exists and will continue to happen so in Mr. Maumoons’ government even though it is the root of all the problems he faced. Finally, the very ugly roles played in parliament by the appointees of presidents and the members of parliament will remembered by the people.
Oppositions
The reform agenda according to many of the opposition members is not a choice but a must. Therefore, the opposition was not in any means ready to accept this as a grant from the government. The party system that was introduced was used to criticize the government to an extent that was almost unbelievable to many Maldivians. The effectiveness of the mass protest is something that’s we can think of. Was the outcome valid in comparison to the social problems?
In anyhow, the failure to make a strong bond among the oppositions is something that was bad yet true. The leadership of the main opposition party changed too often. Dr Waheed was said to lead the party first, Ibra was elected and stayed for a short period. Also MDP was unable to keep hold on with the MPs they got. Many MPs who left the party gave the autocracy of chairperson Anni as an excuse. So who made the fault? Was it that the members were unable to digest the difference in opinion or Anni failed to act in a democratic way? In either case, the issue was a setback to the opposition. Attempting to gather people to Male’ to pressure the Majlis, been unable to maintain a specific system in the riots and failing to show to the public some responsible and capable figures to lead the country were mistakes that’s opposition made. Moreover, the opposition also did not show a very good picture in the Majlis. Finally, even now as the election gets near, the opposition seems to be unorganized and in a state of power struggle which may bring about a result that they don’t want.
Now, the first part is done, it’s high time to make sure we rearrange the lines and start playing the next half in a more meaningful and responsible way.
If politic ever was a game, surely that game is been played here in Maldives in the past 3 to 4 years. Unlike before, now there are two teams on the ground; the government and the oppositions.
Today as the president ratified and the country adopted the new constitution, let’s look back and see how well we have done. We are trying to bring democracy to our country. In order to achieve this goal, we need to change the constitution and implement the changes to the political system accordingly. Now the constitution is rectified, we have reached the half time of the match. Let’s look back! There will be more than enough to talk about what went well, so I’d talk about what didn’t go as it should.
Government
The announcement of the Reform Agenda by the president Maumoon Abdul Gayyom, on 9th June 2004 was followed by days the history of this nation cannot afford to forget. The huge protest and the iron fist showed by the government and the military against the protesters is a big icon of this change. At least there were many incidences where police and the people confronted. This wasn’t a very green signal for a democracy. Many questioned about the faith of the government in the process. The mysterious death of Ivan Naseem happened to be the beginning, which later followed by late Hussain Solah. The arrest of the MDP chair person for a ‘security reason’, the use of the government employees as an indirect weapon were mistakes that never should have occurred. It will be a big mistake for any government to ignore a part of the population. Even if I don’t want to say, all can see the difference between Male’ and the rest of the Maldives. Unfortunately the people were given the right to express without letting them know what it is. Many people were misleading, either by the government or the oppositions, simply because people were not aware enough. At last but not the least, the failure to switch away from the old pattern of one family system was the big barrier which still exists and will continue to happen so in Mr. Maumoons’ government even though it is the root of all the problems he faced. Finally, the very ugly roles played in parliament by the appointees of presidents and the members of parliament will remembered by the people.
Oppositions
The reform agenda according to many of the opposition members is not a choice but a must. Therefore, the opposition was not in any means ready to accept this as a grant from the government. The party system that was introduced was used to criticize the government to an extent that was almost unbelievable to many Maldivians. The effectiveness of the mass protest is something that’s we can think of. Was the outcome valid in comparison to the social problems?
In anyhow, the failure to make a strong bond among the oppositions is something that was bad yet true. The leadership of the main opposition party changed too often. Dr Waheed was said to lead the party first, Ibra was elected and stayed for a short period. Also MDP was unable to keep hold on with the MPs they got. Many MPs who left the party gave the autocracy of chairperson Anni as an excuse. So who made the fault? Was it that the members were unable to digest the difference in opinion or Anni failed to act in a democratic way? In either case, the issue was a setback to the opposition. Attempting to gather people to Male’ to pressure the Majlis, been unable to maintain a specific system in the riots and failing to show to the public some responsible and capable figures to lead the country were mistakes that’s opposition made. Moreover, the opposition also did not show a very good picture in the Majlis. Finally, even now as the election gets near, the opposition seems to be unorganized and in a state of power struggle which may bring about a result that they don’t want.
Now, the first part is done, it’s high time to make sure we rearrange the lines and start playing the next half in a more meaningful and responsible way.