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BOTTOM LINE

Is democracy in Maldives in danger?

Barrister Harun ur Rashid
THE Maldives, the 1,200-atolls archipelago, with about 400,000 people, is strategically located in the Indian Ocean, and countries like India, China, the US and Britain, are worried about its political instability. Support and assistance to the islandstate are necessary to prevent non-military maritime threats — piracy, gun-running, and trafficking of people — and to protect sea-lanes of the Indian Ocean..
The dramatic events commenced on February 7 when President Nasheed resigned, but later claimed his resignation was given under duress. He said: "I was forced to resign at gunpoint. There were guns all around me and they told me they wouldn't hesitate to use them if I didn't resign." Nasheed called the alleged plot a "coup" and called for the chief justice to investigate.
Nasheed's aides have backed up his account of his ouster, saying that more than 50 soldiers arrived at the presidential office and surrounded Nasheed, who promptly called a press conference to announce his resignation.
It was alleged that Vice President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, who was sworn in as Nasheed's replacement, was involved. Hassan denies conspiring to seize power. "Do I look like someone who will bring about a coup d'etat?" he said. "There was no plan. I was not prepared at all."
Former President Nasheed, who rejected Waheed's rule, called for daily demonstrations demanding the president's resignation and a snap poll. However, presidential elections are due in November 2013.
Although initially President Waheed Hassan ruled out holding elections earlier than the scheduled date, but agreed on February 16 to the Indian-brokered deal for early elections, which would likely be held by the year-end.
Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai who visited Male reportedly said: "Our understanding is that elections would be held as early as considered feasible by all concerned." Till then, a national unity government comprising all political parties will run the country. Nasheed's party too will join such a government.
Earlier, US envoy Robert Blake visited Male on February 13 and had talks with both Nasheed and Waheed Hassan but failed to reach a compromise with Nasheed. Meanwhile, a Commonwealth Ministerial Mission reached Maldives on Februaryl4th to probe the controversial power transfer from former president Mohamed Nasheed to his successor Mohammed Waheed. A spokesman from the Commonwealth Secretariat said a three-member team would talk to all parties, including President Waheed, former president Nasheed, members of other parties, and members of the judiciary.
Although political turmoil has been avoided this time, democracy in the idyllic island-country of the Maldives has been in danger because of four factors, among others:
• Sudden resignation of the elected President Nasheed under controversial circumstances;
• Rise of intolerant version of Islam in the country;
• Judiciary's gross failure to apply rule of law;
• Confrontation among three organs of the state In 2008, a fresh breeze had wafted over the island heralding democracy through a fair election, and charismatic human right activist Mohammad Nasheed, a prisoner of conscience, won the election defeating veteran politician President Gayoom who ruled the country with an iron hand for 30 years.
President Nasheed, then only 41 years of age, captured attention across the world for his valiant struggle to install democracy in the Maldives. After victory, he showed respect and took a reconciliatory approach to former president Gayoom. Although Nasheed was directly elected as president, his party, Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), did not enjoy a majority in the 77-member Parliament. In the 2009 parliamentary elections the MDP had secured 28 seats and managed support of four independents, but that was still short of the halfway mark. The latest Constitution of 2008 took away considerable powers from the president, including the authority to decide on subsidies and levying taxes. Also, each cabinet member has to be confirmed by the Parliament.
Since the president lost control of the parliament, a confrontation between the executive and legislature commenced. The judiciary also did not help the president. Nasheed found it difficult to get the Parliament to approve his cabinet members, and at one point the ministers even resigned in protest.
A flash point was Nasheed's effort to overhaul the judiciary, which had been staffed by appointees of the previous government. The judges are appointed for life, and many of them failed to take action against officials who were accused of corruption in land-deals for resorts. President Nasheed faced obstruction from the judiciary.
Frustrated by the actions of judiciary, Nasheed took the unusual step of arresting Justice Abdullah Mohammad. This drastic action was seen as unconstitutional, and analysts say that Nasheed was seen as an authoritarian ruler. This was his great political blunder as he crossed the "redline" of the doctrine of separation of powers inherent in the three organs of the state — executive, legislature and judiciary..
Incidentally, the then Vice-President Mohamed Waheed Hassan criticised the president's action, and so did the former Maldivian Secretary General of Saarc Ms. Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed.
It is important to note that another line of attack by political groups has been that former President Nasheed was un-Islamic, and supported construction of statues, opened tourist spots for Israeli visitors and allowed massage parlours for tourists on islands, although no Maldivians live on those islands.
The negative image of Nasheed was propagated by a group of conservatives Islamists who want to turn Maldives into another "Taliban-ruled Afghanistan." The Islamists, who have grown bolder in recent years, could gain a bigger foothold in the Maldives, which might be a headache for South Asia and beyond.
The fragile democracy in the Maldives needs to be nurtured by all political parties and, if the islandcountry suffers from political instability, there is a distinct possibility of rivalry among big powers to influence the course of its politics considering the nation's geo-strategic location.
The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.