Whose
opportunity is this anyway?
Before I comment on the mass
gathering of people near the Tetra pod Monument let me applaud
the unique and innovativeness of this idea. I doubt any of the
government advisors may have foreseen such a deliberate and
clever interpretation of the president's July 19th message.
For me this was a very Dhivehi act. After all a significant
number of residents and visitors to Male' visit Lonuziyaaraith
Kolhu at least once or twice every single day. So many
ordinary people who may otherwise not attend such a mass
gathering may just happen to travel in that area at that time!
And they may have to stop and wait or perhaps talk to others
to find out why the road is blocked! Or why there are so many
people here! For me, this was the best part of the idea.
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The Most Influential Women in
the Maldives
My attempt here though is to draw up a
list of the 15 most influential women living in our society today. This
task was far complex and difficult that I had initially envisaged. There
are a significant number of women who contribute immensely to politics,
health, education and social services of our country. So to list the top
15 was a very difficult undertaking indeed.
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The
president needs a new strategy
To fight against well
educated and organised reform activists the present regime
needs new ideas and new techniques. The president can no
longer afford to be seen surrounded by the old guards and be
intimidated by them. The majority of political analysts now
believe that the president no longer has the final say in his
own political agenda although some argue they have known it
for the past 25 years. The time is ripe for him to prove the
majority wrong. If the president wishes to save his
presidency, the time has come for him to take some bold
decisions.
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The real heroes of Monday
The ordinary members of
the public were the greatest of all the heroes of the day.
They gathered near the Presidents Office and the Majlis
complex in
great numbers but acted as responsible and decent citizens.
When they were told by their elected MP's to return to their
homes to let democracy work, they obliged willingly. They had
the power, opportunity and reason to create havoc on the
streets of Male' and yet they decided to act for the greater
good of our country and our democracy.
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Let us
set a higher moral standard
The recent desire (which has
become very fashionable!) of criticising government policies
and in particular the personal life of the Head of the State
needs close scrutiny. Although I agree with most of what is
being said about the inadequacies and unjust nature of several
government policies and the corruption of several senior
government figures, I shall never condone the calculated
attacks on the personality and character of the president. For
me, this is a matter of principle more than anything else.
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