MDP Presidential Elections; Democracy at Work!

So tomorrow is the big day, when MDP members all over the country will gather at the poll booths to elect its leadership. It is simply such an exciting thing to be able to witness for the first time in my life, a true democratic election. So far, the campaigning of the candidates has gone without much back-bitting or personal attacks on each other, which is also a first in this country. It would be good if all the other parties in this country was actually keeping their eyes on this election... maybe they can learn a few things about democracy.

I personally have not decided whether I will be voting for an MDP leadership for the presidential elections in 2008, but I have personal admiration for the true sense of democracy that the MDP is displaying. A friend of mine once said that whatever happens in the future, MDP is certainly going to turn out of to be one very strong democratic party. And I agree with that statement. It is a shame that there is no other alternative to the MDP. Certainly I do not consider DRP (with its dictatorial leanings), the Adhaalath Party (with its fundamental views on Islam), the IDP (with its support for capital punishment) and the MSDP (with a manifesto that's clearly been written after watching a marathon of American political movies) as an alternative political option to the MDP. It's still a very sorry situation given this reality. I really do hope that Ibra and his Liberal Party and Monaza Naeem and his National Congress do get the legal status that they need to function as political parties; because from the outset they really do appear to be proper democratic alternatives to MDP. If this does become a reality, then we would have at least 3 solid democratic parties for the people to choose from.

Meanwhile, bring on the MDP elections and show us democracy working. Good luck to the candidates and may the best win. Tomorrow would be a great day for Maldivian Democracy!