Dhivehi Observer :: The People's Press ::

Maldives Poll shows 76% in favour of a new government
EDITORIAL, 22nd May 2004

A small public poll has been carried out in the Maldives, in secrecy by an independent group of reformist volunteers. The results show that the country is in favour of a new Government. 87% of Malé and resorts want a change in government and 65% of the islands support this view.

Keeping in view the enormous risks involved in carrying out such a poll, it was only possible to conduct this poll amongst a small sample of people from Male’, resorts the islands covering all the Atolls. The poll was conducted in last week by telephone.

Some of the key results (for both the Malé region and the Atolls) are outlined below:

91 % are aware of the reformist movement and activities of popular Political Parties; namely the Maldivian Democratic Party and Maldivian League for Democracy

66% are in favour of Mr. Ismail Saadiq to be the next President of Maldives

76% want a change of Government in Maldives

Although this may not be the most accurate estimate of the population parameters (due to the bias arising from the difficulties and risks involved in conducting such a poll), it is interesting to see such projects are being inspired in the Maldives. In the future, more polls will be conducted as the public in Maldives are now more concerned and active in the political sphere of the country. The youth are actively engaging in promoting reform and creating awareness among the people about social issues and how they can come to resolve them through public discourse and communicative action.

As developed countries have shown, polls conducted by credible organisations can lead to strong socio-political change to reflect the views of the people. The Government of the Maldives should allow political and social activities to be conducted in the Maldives in order to promote and keep itself aware of the public consensus about socio-political issues. It is only reasonable to question the credibility of this particular poll reported in this editorial. The reason for this is the lack of awareness and tolerance among the Maldivian society about the involvement in the political process. A poll can only be reliable in an open environment where the society can participate in the free exchange of ideas and one in which citizens’ constitutional rights are upheld by the authorities. This is clearly not the case that has come to prevail in the last 25 years, in which politics and social participation has been widely been propagated as taboo.

President Gayyoom's popularity is at an all time low, despite his continued efforts to suppress the people of Maldives without bringing any formidable changes to the administration of his government. There have been several calls for reform, which have either fallen to deaf ears or/and are only being paid lip service. However, the number of opponents to Gayyoom's government is growing rapidly and with consistency. It is widely being accepted that this will be his last term in office.

Dhivehi Observer is also conducting an on going poll to try and establish Gayyoom's popularity amongst the readers. The Poll started on 1st May 2004 and the results today is 67% of the readers want Gayyoom to resign; to date 1500 votes have been cast; the poll is designed for one person, one vote; Dhivehi Observer can assure readers that it has not "rigged" the vote. But we cannot guarantee whether that some readers might have voted more than once. While non of the polls are scientific, it also echoes the findings of the telephone poll. A poll will also be conducted by email this month.

Some of the suggestions by reformists and participants of the discussion boards are listed below:

(a) Call for the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the unconditional release of all political prisoners

(b) Call for multi-party politics and establishment of a pluralistic democracy

(c) Call for an end to media suppression and monopoly on TV and Radio by the government

(d) Call for the appointment of a new Speaker of the Parliament, a person who can redress the parliament and remove the rubber-stamp culture among the MPs.

(e) Call for investigating the multitude of corruption scandals of cabinet ministers, especially the family members of Gayyoom

(f)    Call for appointment of able and credible people to the cabinet

(g) Call for free and fair elections and bring an immediate end to vote rigging and arresting pro-reformist activists and politicians standing for the parliament

(h) Call for adjustment of the income of ordinary citizens in proportion to inflation; people must be paid to live a decent life

(i)     Call for reduction in the cost of basic infrastructural services including electricity, water and telecommunication

(j)    Call for an end to the disparity between health services in Malé and the islands

(k)   Call for providing a universal education system to all not just those in Malé

Dhivehi Observer (DO) is pleased with the interaction we receive from the readers and critiques alike. We look forward to receive further suggestions for improving the services and information disseminated to the Public by DO.