MDP Leadership lied to the Greater Majority of the Party!

When the Special Majlis had its Business Committee meeting without its original chair and was chaired by Dr. Hussain Rasheed, on the 9th of December, to decide whether the Majlis should go for recess, my sources confirm to me that the MDP and PA was going to boycott the meeting.

But the truth of the matter is that while PA kept its commitment to boycott the Businesses Committee meeting MDP or rather Anni, in the most dictatorial fashion allowed two of his members to attend the meeting, so that the quorum could be met, while the MDP parliamentary group was also kept in the dark on this matter. My disappointment of MDP increased 10 fold because of this action taken by Anni.

It is my belief he is also wanting to buy time much like Gayyoom (his agenda is always obvious - remain in power as long as possible), to push their own agenda's (that he has not made public yet), the agenda being that Anni is almost convinced that MDP should be backing Dr. Saeed presidential bid. This would in the end result in much greater infighiting between the true reformists and the grassroots activist and the leadership of the MDP. As for the so called "Maldivian Democratic Alliance Movement" is merely hanging by a thread and Gayyoom appears to get ready to slip through the chaos that he is engineering between all the political factions through this alliance.

The reasons for the recess was proposed by the government or DRP because President Gayyoom is going to be out of town for Haj and he does not want to loose control of the proceedings of the Majlis.

Anni's support for this recess without the consent of the majority of the party members is that he is busy gaining international support for Saeed's proposal for a transitional government ahead of the proposed multi party elections in 2008. the down side of this is that he constitution is not finished yet and the main focus right now should be on finishing a constitution that reflects the democratic aspirations of the people of this republic.

The Majlis has already missed 2 deadlines, one promised by the government the other voted and agreed on the floor of the Majlis by its members. The rushing of the Constitutional reform has already resulted in so many blunders being made that is not in the favor of the democratic aspirations of the freedom loving and democracy aspiring Maldivian population.

But now since the deadlines has been missed and the creation of a new deadline has been rejected in the floor of the Majlis on the night of th 30th December just before the deadline of midnight, the pulse of the Majlis is to continue as it is going as witnessed by the Pandemonium that took place after Gasim Ibrahim announced to the plenary of the Majlis on the 10th of December that the Business Committee has unanimously decided to go for a recess when the fact of the matter is the it could not have been a unanimous meeting when some members of the committee did not attend the meeting. Gasim "acting under the orders" of someone has broken the rules of the Majlis and lied to the greater population of this Nation.

The Majlis has been working non stop for more that 190 days now, and after all this work, the pulse of the most of the members is that we do not need a break of this long any more, but rather lets continue in this spirit of national unity and finish of this constitutional reform process as soon as possible so that we could hold a multi-party election in 2008 which Gayyoom appears to be adamant to not to allow it to happen.

Career politicians and Greedy politicans

Years of programing or conditioning of the minds of the public has lead to a society to believe that the only way ahead is my being corrupt. I call this corruption because I cannot call an apple an orange. But these so called politicians don't necessarily see them as corrupt politicians, but their actions are a means to end. Its more "doing friends favors" as they would like to call it and they see it as actions done for the greater good of this country that I strongly disagree and object.

My many conversations with the so called politicians in this country confirm this attitude as a prevalent problem among the whole order of the society and the political actors in this country. They would take more than give more to the people they are supposed to represent at different levels of parliament or government.

This has become a decease among the population. A decease so deep rooted that it is near impossible to uproot it and plant new seeds to grow a whole new crop of decent career politicians with the peoples best interest at heart. I am at a complete loss as to how this "truly democratic" movement would move towards building a generation of career politicians without their own agendas.

If my readers are having any ideas please share these with all of us so that we can try and build this country for the benefit of this nation. I refuse to believe that money dictates everything and that humanity can be so unreliable.

I have been able to make contacts with certain individuals that might possibly have no personal agenda other than try and build a nation on the likes of Dubai or Singapore and this is a better option than the ones that is being presented by MDP, DRP, PA or the New Maldives Movement.

For the record I would like to stress that, the other available options of Adaalath, IDP and currently now pushing for independence from the government, the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs are not going to be good political options for this country and we as forward thinking Maldivians should try and stop them in their tracks before they get out of hand. For this we need the support of all concerned Maldivian citizens to work together.

Let us try and put aside our differences and work together to build this nation that is slowly sliding into economic and social chaos at a rapid rate.

Maldivian Bloggers Community!

I would very much appreciate all Maldivian Bloggers sending me their links for me to include in "Maldivian Bloggers" section of this blog of mine. The idea is to create a one stop Maldivian Blog Center that we all bloggers could reach out to and exchange ideas.

Looking forward to support from you all Blog Heads out there!

Cheers!

Human Rights for Some!

Last nights show organized by some of the local NGO's and MDP was a success to some, because we did end up celebrating the World Human Rights Day without interference from the Government Authorities or the police being there. It was a much smoother affair than the previous year when the Maldives police and the Military cracked down on the crowd and ultimately shut down the celebrations.

Gayyoom has been one smart 'mofo' all these years. He has hidden the World Human Rights Day in the Maldives as the Fisherman's Day since he became president. But since the reform movement started and as it gained momentum the public in general had realized that there actually is a day for the celebration of our rights as humans that unites and brings us all together.

But it does leave the question of the poor fisherman who toil the seas for a living and is considered as one of the backbones of this society. Other than the 10th of December, they should still be given a day that we all celebrate our fisherman that makes the islands of this beautiful Nation ever so slightly livable under the oppressive rulers of all our leaders according to history and not just Gayyoom himself.

Back on the Blog!

After a long break from my blog, it feels good to be back. My sincere apologies for being away, but unavoidable circumstances lead me to not be able to post for a long time.

A few friends of mine asked me whether I ran out of things to say, but I assure you all my readers that, that is not the case. I have been simply very busy with work and also my health has been a factor for me to be unable to do any posting all this time. But now I am feeling much better and taking better care of myself.

So at this critical juncture in the political scenario of this country I am so excited to be back and posting my thoughts on the events that are unfolding all around us, directly and indirectly effecting our lives.

ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!

Congratulations to Dr. Munavvar & the MDP!

Its been a long time since I posted anything on this blog. Life just seems to find many ways to make a person so busy that one simply cannot do something as simple as post on a personal Blog.

Anyways, MDP elections are over. It wasn't the best of elections by any standards, but it was probably the best and most democratic election that was ever held in the Maldives. I hope the concerned people in power do take note and accept its time to be a lot more democratic (I guess its still wishful thinking -- but one can hope can't I?).

I have to say I was a bit surprised at the results of the election with Dr. Munavvar being elected as president of the only established democratic party in the country. I would have picked Zaki to have won, simply because he is the lesser of two evils. Why am I surprised? Its like this you see. A soldier cannot kill a child, woman or an unarmed civilian and say he was simply following orders. Much the same I don't think it excuses Dr. Munavvar for all the atrocities that he committed whilst the Attorney General of this country simply because he apologized. By his own admission he had sentenced or prosecuted more than 40,000 of our country men unjustly to later simply say he was sorry. I think there is something seriously messed up about the people of this country who gladly handed over the reigns of only democratic party when the people should in actual fact be holding him accountable for his crimes. Yes I do call it crimes.

Anyways, whats done is done, so lets wait and see how this new saga of our struggle for democracy will unfold. Only time will tell... adios!

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!

Universal suffrage at 18?

Despite government attempts to sabotage, parliament has decided that everybody above the age of 18 is going to be able to take part in the referendum to find out which system of government the Maldives should have. What does this really mean to the everyday teenager in this country? Is everybody above 18 really going to get so excited and run out to the poll booths so that they can be heard? And add 20,000 new voters in the country? And if they do, is this country at a level of political maturity that the teenage voting populace should really influence the lives of the rest of the population? Does it also mean that everybody above the age of 18 is also going to be allowed to vote in future elections of this country as well and not just this one time referendum?

Is this country ready for this likely scenario? Is this not asking for trouble when this country is ruled by dominating conservatives? I for one support universal suffrage at the age of 18. I believe that we should throw caution to the wind and find out in practice what sort of effect such a drastic change would have on this small community. Maybe things wouldn't really be so bad. Of course there would be a teething period, as there is for all new things. But it would surely work itself out in time.

The law in this country already treats 18 year olds as adults. We get prosecuted at 18. We can can married at 18. And if we are going to be allowed by law to vote at the age of 18, then the question that also begs an answer is why are we not allowed to join political parties when we turn 18? The current law that says that you have to be 21 to join political parties is certainly robbing a large number of "legal adults" from actively being involved in the political affairs of our country. Only if they are allowed to join political parties would we truly be letting the youth get involved in the politics of this country. In return we would be creating a new generation of young Maldivians who are concerned about their country, out of which will emerge much younger more energetic leaders who could lead this nation into the future.

If these changes are not brought in soon, the youth of this nation will simply be a tool to be used by their elders when they want votes on issues that matter to them. Where does that leave them? I dont think they want to be that much of a 'tool'.

*Image taken from Minivan News

Maldives; Close your eyes and imagine - 1

This is a fictional story originally published in Dhivehi Observer on 31st July 2004. Story written by Muzaffar Naeem, Edited by Andrew Finn.

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Part One

The Early Days

One year has passed since the day President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom left in exile. His life is now based in Nigeria, staying with friends he made back in 1969 when he was a teacher there. It was the smartest move ever made by the despot, by avoiding bloodshed in the capital city of Male'. Attempts to bring him back to the country to stand trial for the crimes he committed whilst abusing the power of the highest executive, have been futile. Hope he is happy there.

Ex-president Gayoom's departure followed the critical mistakes he made leading up to his departure. Early in the year 2004, the pro-reform public organised a small peaceful gathering to deliver a letter informing the activities of MDP and other united reformists. This gathering was thwarted by mass arrests of reformists though out the capital city. The reformists waited for the situation to calm down before another peaceful gathering could be organised. This time the demands were to restore peace and order in the country and the immediate and unconditional resignation of the presidency. The president responded to the unarmed public with rubber bullets and tear gas; claiming it was un-Maldivian to do such activities. He claimed it was done in the interest of national security. The public had seen enough of this mans unrelenting iron fist, his strong hold on their lives. A do-or-die mob took matters into their own hands and was on the verge of organising a not-so-peaceful gathering. Gayoom got the hint that his reign of terror was over. Before the gathering could take place he secretly left the country in the early hours of the morning.

When Gayoom left, the country was on the verge of a civil war. The local communities were divided between reformists, wealthy Gayoom supporters and the poor folks that were simply stuck in the middle. Not sure of their future, they were afraid to speak out in fear of repercussions. It was dark scary times.

In the middle of all the despair Gayoom’s resignation and subsequent departure from the country brought hope and much confusion to the population of Maldives. The country was on the brink of division.

The remnants that remained from the Gayoom regime tried to seize control of the nation for their own gains. Ilyas Ibrahim and Abdullah Yameen along with high ranking leaders within the NSS declared martial law and tried to take control. The public remained subdued for a week before coming out in force to demand fair elections and proper rule of law. Many were arrested and jailed. The dead bodies of five pro-reform activists were found in the capital city of Male'. Cause of death remains unknown.

Things would have continued to degenerate if the UN had not stepped in to stabilize the situation. After the unexplained deaths, the uprising that followed was backed by the UN demanding fair elections and accountability. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members and other political activists in exile started arriving back in the capital under the protection of UN peace keepers. Ilyas Ibrahim and Yameen relinquished power to an interim government peacefully. Things began to change.

One of the first things done by the interim government was to declare that the Maldives would be run by a true democracy. Parties were formed. Defections from the already existing MDP created the Socialist Democratic Party of Maldives (SDP). Maldives National Congress (MNC) and the Maldivian Conservative Party (MCP) also came into play in Maldivian politics. The state in an attempt to discourage future leaders from abusing Islam for their own personal and political gains separated itself from religion. The public was apprehensive of the new changes, unsure what this new system of governance would hold for their future and religion. Allegations against members of some of the parties about drug addicts and power hungry disgruntled ex-Gayyoomists with no respect for Islam were laid to rest by the announcement of the Supreme Islamic Council of Maldives and its role in Maldivian politics. The council was given a permanent place in the parliament and their role was to ensure that Maldivian's remain true to our religion of Islam whilst embracing the developments of the west and the east. This council, whilst ensuring this, were not allowed to gain power itself, but was to remain rather as a regulatory body. In parliament they would guarantee that Islam in the Maldives would not be compromised by any act of parliament. The circle of five in Maldivian politics was born.

Islam would remain the official religion of Maldives by order of the Constitution.

The second most important announcement of the Interim government was the deregulation of all media. Copyright laws were introduced and censorship was removed. Freedom of the press and speech was recognised as most crucial towards reform and re-building a nation. This was followed by decreasing the voting age to 18 from 21. This was based on the fact that the interim government recognises everybody above the age of 18 as legally adults and they too have a say in how the country should be run.

Elections were held to elect the Members of the parliament. The public was determined to make sure that the parliament was truly representative of every Maldivian regardless of whom they are or from where they came. As the dust settled after the elections, MDP had gained the most number of seats. The rest were for the most part evenly divided including a few independent MP's. The new parliament was now in place.

First on the agenda was the presidential election. It was unanimously determined by the parliament that the presidential term should not exceed that of 2 five year terms, under any circumstances. It was a one off a kind decision as they decided that it was the one law of the country that could not ever be amended at a later date by anyone for personal gains.

All parties were requested to present their candidates, Independent candidates were also asked to come forward for the presidential election.

The parties held their own caucus style elections through out the nation to come up with their candidates to nominate. They presented the parliament with 4 candidates, one for each party. As the candidates started to campaign officially for the presidency there were 4 partisan candidates and 3 independents. Two of the independents would later drop out of the race partially due to lack of funds but also through lack of support.

The election had unprecedented large voter turnout in the history of Maldives. The biggest shock came when the sole independent candidate left, won the election over the 4 party candidates. It is believed this is due to the fact that the majority of the public was still uncertain about the whole party system. As time went by the public opinions changed and would later believe that the party system is one of the best things to ever happen to the country.

Second on the agenda for the new parliament was to make preparation for the necessary amendments to the constitution. Today amendments to the constitution are being made according to the changing requirements of the people in a constantly changing world.

As the new president took oath for the highest executive of the nation, he was faced with the massive task of re-building a nation from the ground up. The next few moves he made would determine the future of his presidency.

The first issue talked about by the new government was the issue of employment and worker rights. Working times and unions for fair treatments of workers were put into place to protect the Maldivian working public. The government would have no control of the unions. Working hours were changed to nine to five for both government and private sectors as official working hours. It was an important move by the government to make sure that the private and the public sector worked effectively in the same time frame of the day. It proved to be a better system than the half day public sector and the 12 hours plus in the private sector that was in place during the Gayoom regime. The weekend would remain the same as before with Friday and Saturday as the weekend.

During the time of the workers "revolution", the agenda of minimum wage became a major issue. Old Gayoom era wages like MRF1500 for the public sector and the completely unregulated wages of the private sector were creating massive social and economic problems for individual families. It had been taking its toll.

The government graciously acknowledged the problem and a study was conducted to find out how much is a viable minimum starting wage for all employees, regardless of which sector they work in. The only condition was that the workers had to be above the age of 18 years to be eligible to receive the minimum wage benefit.

The finding of the study revealed that a realistic monthly starting wage for all working Maldivian's would be MRF6000, a sharp contrast to the Gayoom era wages. The new minimum wage was implemented. Within months the living conditions and the lifestyles of the average Maldivian increased dramatically. The value of the money in comparison to foreign currencies around the world rose considerably as increased public spending and Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) regulations to control inflation and monetary value were put in place and maintained. Maldivian's were finally becoming rich as a community. The grossly unfair wealth distribution and the large income disparity that existed during the "dark ages" of Gayoom slowly began to fade into memory. With the new changes firmly in place Maldives would later go on to become an economic powerhouse in the SAARC region. It was time for Maldives to be removed from the list of under developed and poor nations and graduate into a fast developing nation with prospects.

The president could have been a great chess player. Completely backed by the parliament now, it was like him and his government could do no wrong. His moves were calculated to the last detail. He knew what the public wanted next even before it became an issue in parliament. And he had his next move ready and waiting.

It is widely believed that he knew mass education of the peoples was the next best thing that he could do for the country. It would create the work force needed to move the country forward. But he was now faced with a bigger problem. There was no focused direction forward that existed that we could go towards. Small businesses and resort ownership and such were all fine, but it lacked direction completely. This was no longer the case. He had envisaged a way to provide that focus for all sectors of the nation. His next move made it certain the sophomore president's star would remain high in the sky for years to come.

Maldives; Close your eyes and imagine - 2

This is a fictional story originally published in Dhivehi Observer on 31st July 2004. Story written by Muzaffar Naeem, Edited by Andrew Finn.

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Part Two

A Nation of the Rise

It was the second year since the departure of Gayoom or as I like to call it the second year of our nations rebirth.

The project announced by the new president and his government was the biggest rebuilding of a nation ever announced in the history of all small nations anywhere in the world.

The developments spearheaded by Gayoom were stopped. Old plans by Gayoom to expand tourism throughout the atolls and upgrade the harbors of all inhabited islands, as utopian as it sounds were an economic waste of resources. Any body would tell you trying to build and modernize 200 inhabited islands are a near impossible task. Given the time when the Gayoom's plans were announced, it is safe to say it was never really going to happen, but merely an empty promise to shut up the population getting restless over issues of political, economic and social reform. It seems that is was merely propaganda employed by Gayoom to subdue the population.

Instead a plan was announced to divide the Maldives into four economic zones for development. Instead of one city in the form of Male', in the coming decades there will be 4 major cities in the Maldives and the expansion of tourism to every atoll would still go ahead as planed. This new plan was probably the best initiative ever taken by a Maldivian leader in its long and sometimes painful history. The new government was on a roll and it seemed anything was possible at the time.

Addu Atoll (Seenu) was announced to be the port city of Maldives. In time a massive harbour will be built in the inter-connected islands of Addu Atoll. The harbour would be more than capable of competing with the harbours of Sri Lanka and Singapore. Since Maldives does not have many natural resources to create our own products for export, re-export would be key to solving most of our problems. Many other specializing industries would follow to sustain such a massive project. Higher education for all and incentives for new businesses were high on the government agenda. A subsidy system was created to encourage business to establish themselves around the port. This would apply for other regions based on the industries.

The rest of the interconnected islands in the atoll would be given the Hulhumale' treatment. Instead of giving small plots of land to massive families that is later going to be divided up to matchboxes for living in congested areas, planned cities and apartment style living would be the new Maldivian way of life. Every married couple will be given the opportunity to buy apartments with government incentives for home ownership.

As development carries on, every existing resident of the islands would have the priority choice on the apartments as the government decided to purchase all land in the island from the inhabitants. Second choice would be given to residents of the newly divided economic region before it goes on sale nation wide. The population of the new island of Addu would be around the 50,000 mark. Nearby unconnected islands would also be given the Hulhumale' treatment as satellite towns of Addu, the new city. It was exiting times for Maldivian's.

Nearby atolls Gaafu Alifu, Gaafu Dhaalu and Gnaviyani were also included in this economic region. All fisheries related developments would be concentrated into this region.

The second zone for economic development was the Laamu Atoll. The connected islands in this atoll are to be developed to handle inner-city tourism. Hotels, activities for tourist and locals to co-exist in a peaceful manner in a uniquely designed Island (the Hulhumale' treatment) that caters for every aspect of city tourism. This would be available in the Laamu Atoll Island. The idea behind this region is to compete with such lucrative markets like Bali, Tahiti and Ibiza. Again satellite towns of the main island would come in time according to demand.

The third economic zone is the existing Male' zone. Solving the problems of overcrowding of this region was the main issue on the new governments plan. Public announcement and awareness campaigns went into full gear within months of the announcement. Opportunities for a lucrative real estate market, re-export, city based tourism, and home owner ship of every married couple and public partnership in achieving these incredible dreams were all part of that campaign.

The satellite town of Villingili in Male' Atoll was announced as the home of the new University of Maldives. The streets were gradually widened to allow a Hulhumale' treatment for the island. Along side the existing population of Villingili, it will be mostly shared with students staying at hostels coming from all over the nation. University buildings, student hostels, apartments and a central shopping and services area would be developed.

Maldivian's are a funny bunch of people. Even at the most critical of times we would get worked up about the most irrelevant of things. In the second year of the New Maldives, the fight regarding what to do with the presidential palace was one of the prime examples. One group wanted it to be a university building while the others wanted it to remain as the presidential palace. In the end Muleeaage became the white house of Maldives. It is both the presidential office and residence. In a full compromise by the government, the new office building on the seafront became a University Faculty building. Theemuge along with Medhu Ziyaarai became the new National Museum.

Efforts to clean up Male' and to make it more people friendly would include the removal of the wall surrounding the Sultan Park making it a one of kind unique "Hiffaseyha Maidhaan". It was later renamed, "The Sultans Botanical Gardens".

He would also privatise, STO, Dhiraagu, TVM and the Voice of Maldives. It was followed by fair competitive businesses to compete with the respective businesses.

The forth economic development zone would be the atolls located in the northern most end of Maldives. Even with years of neglect by Gayoom of this region, as a personal vendetta against the people of the region, the island of Hanimaadhoo with already existing facilities like an adequate sized airport and such would be made the centre of development. As the region contains many large islands with quite large populations it would be a difficult to implement such drastic methods of development, but this does not mean that it would be ignored. Instead it was actually crucial to the sustainability of the four economic zone system.

Hanimadhoo will be the first island to receive the coveted dream like planned city treatment. More would follow in time. The same regulations and rules would apply as the other regions and factory work would be the main objective for this region. Incentives would be given to entrepreneurs of this region to start up garment, house hold furniture and traditional arts and crafts factories would be the main source of income for the region. This sector would be encouraged to house much of the Maldives existing and new industries.

The populations of these new cities would be around a manageable 50,000 or so. Opportunities for private businesses to operate ferry type transportation by seaplane between all major cities and satellite towns would be made possible.

This plan created uproar among the local communities as fears of resort style living for family and friends of the president and high ranking officials were assumed to be behind such a project. All fears were laid to rest in due time as the projects started to take life and jobs and opportunities became abundant.

Regardless of the economic zone all uninhabited island are going to be considered for tourism development. It was the president's belief that all benefits from the lucrative tourism market belonged to the people and not to a select few or to a selected region.

As the new developments were being implemented, preparations were underway to bring justice to the remnants of the Gayoom regime. Assets of these criminals were frozen and confiscated by the government and hefty sentences were passed on. Ilyas Ibrahim, Yameen, Anbaree Abdul Sattar, Abdullah Hameed, Adam Zahir, Koli Ali Maniku, Fathuhula Jameel, Zahir Hussein all got life imprisonment with without possibility of parole with hard labour. Ahmed Abdullah got 15 years while Ismail Shafeeu got 10 years. Many others in the lower ranks were also prosecuted. Koli Ali Maniku died of a heart attack in prison. Even without Gayoom being brought to justice this gave some relief to the Maldivian people that had suffered during the brutal dictatorship of Gayoom.

As a final act of greatness by the president, he would officially complete the work he started and establish the 4 states of the nation. These were all headed by elected governors who reported to a federal government based in the capital Male'. The atolls that fell into the individual states would still have an atoll chief as before, who now reported to the governors of their respective state instead to the federal government. The atoll chiefs would also be elected.

The first president of the new Maldives would serve for two full terms. The public adored the president and was even requested to stay on for a third term. Being a man of principles, he pointed out the clause of 2 terms for the president in the constitution and to much fanfare stepped down when the time came. Being a man of business he returned to the business world he had left behind when he became president of the Maldives. He also became a highly respected statesman on the speaking circuit and remains so to this day.

A map of the newly established economic states of the Maldives

Maldives; Close your eyes and imagine - 3

This is a fictional story originally published in Dhivehi Observer on 31st July 2004. Story written byMuzaffar Naeem, Edited by Andrew Finn.

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Part Three

A Retrospective

It is the twentieth year of the new Maldives. The tyranny of Gayoom is not even a distant memory today. The man is neither remembered nor revered, simply forgotten. Occasionally you would hear a mother sing to a sleepy child "Gayoomu arraane, migey dhoshan naadhey". It is almost funny how things have changed.

Two more presidents were to follow in the footsteps of the great first president. The second president was a party affiliated president from MDP. He would continue to follow the work started by the first president.

He initiated the bridge projects that we are used to seeing now. The debates went on in the parliament as to whether it was a bridge or an under-sea tunnel that would serve Maldivian's for years to come. It was decided a bridge would be better for the time being as it has more visual flare than a tunnel and that looking good is just as important as being practical. Bridges were to be built between Male' and Hulhumale'/Airport and between male' and Villingili. Construction started without delay. The project is a joint venture between Maldivian companies (Construction, Civil engineers, and architects) and a foreign company.

Even with the bold and brave bridge projects under his belt, he failed to be re-elected for a second term. It is believed widely that the president paled in comparison to the last one and the people had already upped their expectations of our presidency.

On the fifteenth year of New Maldives, a third president was elected to office. He is a Socialist Democratic president from the previously mentioned circle of power.

One of his proudest moments was the opening of the very first bridge in the Maldives last year. It connected Hulhumale'/airport with Male'. It was a proud moment in Maldivian history as a dream that is as old as time was realised. The face of Male, because of the new bridge looks divine.

The bridge that is being built between Male' and Villingili would be finished in 2 more years time if it goes without any more problems like the first bridge. The first bridge was delayed for more than a year as a massive problem came across during construction. Halfway through construction it was found out that an engineering flaw meant that the bridge would not last long. Rough seas and high winds were threatening to bring it down. A minor glitch, as far as the experts were concerned. But it delayed the project by a year as the problem was fixed. Maldivian's no longer tolerated short term measures.

As another election draws near, it is widely believed that the Socialist Democratic president would be re-elected due to the projects started by the president.

The shallow reef on the right of Male' is being reclaimed, much like the Hulhumale' island 20 years ago. Once completed it will be twice the size of Hulhumale' and a planned city will be built. Land space with the population at more than half a million is stretched to the limit. More space is required.

One of his other plans is to start privatising the remaining government business that was yet to be made private. As previous government monopolies enter the private competitive market more jobs and opportunities would be made available to the public.

He would also become a champion for environmental issues effecting Maldives. He would later remove Maldives from the list of developing countries and graduate it to a developed country.

The development we have seen in the last 20 years is phenomenal. What Gayoom did in 25 years the first president did in less than five years and moved on to new territory. Today, we take scheduled ferry style high speed boats and seaplanes to every inhabited island like we were taking a bus. Well actually it is. It's called the SeaBus.

Today the atolls are very well off. Laamu Atoll officially does compete with the markets of Bali and Tahiti and such. If anything it is better because of the economic and political stability that we have been having for the last 20 years.

The re-export trade continue to share the top spot with tourism as the major industries of the country. Tourism has spread to every atoll in the country and there is no end to the amount of island available for tourism development. The fisheries industry is also booming. There are very little, if any monopolies in the country.

Male' today is a very beautiful city with a manageable population. A project is being carried out to refresh the old and congested took of Male'.

The northern region today exports Maldivian made products and arts and crafts to Europe, USA and eastern Asia. The region still struggles a little bit every now and then, but plans of expansion of businesses and new investors in the region hold much promise in the near future. This region has become a manufacturing powerhouse.

The criminal justice system has been amended now for some time. People who get arrested are only held in custody for one working day without the ruling of a judge. After being charged with a crime, they are kept in house arrest. This is done along with bail depending on the type of case. Investigations are held with investigators looking for clues, forensics and intelligence. This stands in contrast to the old Gayoom system of acquiring confessions from the arrestee while they are being beaten up in custody.

Cases are presented in courts with the defendants having lawyers to defend themselves. Cases have to be proven without reasonable doubt in front a jury of 12 eminent men and women. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty.

There have been very little claims of human rights violations in the country. Our laws have long since been amended according to the Paris Principles.

Maldives today is proof that an Islamic democracy can function side by side with western democracies. It has been the inspiration for many small nations through out the world.

Granted, we still have a small number of poor people, people who complain about the ways things are handled and people who complain for no apparent reason. Every country regardless of what its leaders do has these people but the percentage of the poor has dropped to about 5% in the last 20 years from the 47% it was under Gayoom. Unemployment is at 8%. Maldivian's are more energised with a more positive can-do attitude. Socially and economically it has never been better.

All the developments that we experience today are all thanks to the far sight and initiative taken by a few brave souls 20 years ago, when they called out for reform. Kudos to those heroes of our nation that remain in a very special place in our collective hearts. The five dead pro-reform activists were honoured as national heroes and due compensation was paid to their families. They will never be forgotten.

Nobody ever really knows whatever happened to Gayoom. If he is alive and still in Nigeria is unknown for certain. Being forgotten is a fate worse then death to a man like Gayoom, whose main purpose was seeking attention at any given opportunity. Speaking of Gayoom, does anybody ever really know for sure what was in his 20-20 "thasavvaru"? Get more money?

But then I wake up. Gayoom is still in power. I have to face the harsh reality of my own life. The dream was merely the manifestation of my own desire.

It is a desire, I think, shared by many of us.

It is a desire, I think, that can be attained.

It is a desire, I hope, that will be our future.

Last night I had this dream.

Today I wrote it down.

Tomorrow we can take the first steps towards realising it.

THE END

EARTH FROM ABOVE - MALE' by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Male' Island, Kaafu Atoll, Maldive Islands

Male', capital of the Maldives, stands where two atolls meet. All the political, administrative, economic and cultural functions of the country are performed within its 1.8 square kilometers (0.7 square mile), and the town is home to slightly more than one-quarter of Maldivians, about 70,000 people. With 900 inhabitants per square kilometer (2300 per square mile) the Maldives is the seventh most densely populated country in the world. As a result, land use is highly specialized: one island acts as the capital, another houses the airport, a third is an oil depot, a forth a prison. About 200 islands are inhabited, and 90 are reserved for tourists. The risk of land shortage is due less to rapid population growth than to rising sea levels, for the Maldives rise no more than 2 meters (6 1/2 feet) above sea level. The dangers that climate change brings to countries such as the Maldives - extreme storms and floods have already occurred - have put island states at the forefront of international climate talks, leading them to call on the major industrialized countries who emit vast quantities of green house gases. In some places, work has begun building dikes to shore up the islands for the eventualities of warming climate and rising sea level.

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NOTE: The above picture and text is the copyrighted works of Yann Arthus-Bertrand from his photo series "Earth from Above"

*** The Statistical figure of 70,000 as the population of Male' is wrong. The figure stands at 104,000 from the census of 2006.

A Sound of a Nation?

I start this post at the risk of being labeled a heretic by fiercely loyal fans of Zero Degree Atoll. But the truth of the matter is that Nashid and Co. wrote one fantastic album some 20 years ago and have so far been unable to make anything anywhere as good as "Dhoni" that it appears that they have also given up trying. Hence, Maldivian music legends, as most would prefer to call them, are a band in a league of their very own. They are the "one album wonder" that would become a legend and be the pride of a nation. Right guys we love Zero Degree don't we?

And so every now and then you have shows like these, where the boys from Zero Degree Atoll have a "reunion" or something else like that where they relive glory days of a bygone era. Don't get me wrong people. Degree's first set was warm and elegant and such a joy to listen to, I found myself having goosebumps. Such is the power of their music.

But Zero Degree was billed with a much younger energetic band who had been already making waves in Male' with their own brand of Dhivehi hybrid metal/grunge sound. Kayaano and crew came on, when Degree took a break, to really please the crowd. Their lyrics were rough and unpolished, but most definitely easier to relate to. Kayaano's lyrics are relevant to the time and poignant. Ladies and Gentlemen, Traphic Jam was not going to be pushed around and be relegated to just the support band for Zero Degree Atoll. Heavy guitar laden riffs with lyrics that discussed things that affect our lives were the highlight of the night. The crowd was going wild joining in the party that was Traphic Jam at the front of the stage. I don't think the snooty crowd sitting in the front row with their RF 250 seats (whose view was clearly obstructed by the increasing size of the mosh pit) really understood or approved of the energy that was vibrating through the carnival grounds. This was original Dhivehi music defining a generation, creating a cultural identity.

When Zero Degree came on for their second set the crowd was already spent and satisfied. The crowd would rather have a cigarette and smile to itself thinking about that awakening orgasmic moment of belonging. As the crowd lay spent, Nashid and crew provided 'background' music. Their two new songs were hardly noticed as the crowd started slowly drifting towards the doors.

Visit the official website of Sound of a Nation

Welcome to "Random thoughts on Paradise"

So, like everyone else out there... I've decided that I am also going to be blogging my thoughts on this wonderful country of ours from now on...

This is not a dedicated political blog but merely a site where I can share my thoughts, opinions and views on the current affairs of Maldives.

As humans, no two people really think alike and are most likely to have diverse and opposing views on many subjects. The idea is to be able to carry on discussions despite the differences so that we all might benefit from them in our own way.

I have decided that for reasons of avoiding unnecessary irrelevant comments being posted on this blog, that I will moderate them before posting. This is not for reasons of censorship. I do not condone censorship at all. I hope you will understand and appreciate why the blog has to be moderated. I request when you post comments, to use respectful language and be civil towards all writers on this blog. There will be no space for comments that are likely to provoke, attack or offend others. Comments that are sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable or encourage unlawful activity will not be posted as I am hoping that this blog will be viewed by a varied audience from different walks of life.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for visiting this blog of mine and reading my thoughts and sharing yours with me.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the contrubutors who posted them unless otherwise mentioned.