:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

Monocracy of Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom

Editorial, 12th September 2004

A.S.I.Moosa (Sappe')

Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom assumed power in 1978. Many in the Maldives believed that he was the right man for the job. Unlike his predecessor Gayyoom was an educated Islamic scholar. Many hoped that he would be a compassionate leader.

26 years later, he can be classed only as a brutal dictator. Gayyoom has surpassed any other dictator we Maldivians have ever known. He has created a society in which power and wealth and opportunity are in the hands of a very few Maldivians who have no desire to share it. He has created a society in which education is by selection and expensive, health service is under funded and inadequate as well as inaccessible, the national security service is trained to protect the government and not the public. Gayyoom has created a society in which there is no justice or rule of law but his will. This is known as autocracy, synonyms of which are dictatorship, monocracy, tyranny and despotism.

Gayyoom has never hesitated to undermine the constitution to protect his power. Many learned people have become his cronies. Not only that, they are pillars of this dictatorship. The People advocated democracy and freedom in their early days in government. Unfortunately they are now deeply entrenched in the system that they cannot come out clean even if they wanted to.

With an inhumane agenda, Gayyoom has created an ethos of fear and intimidation amongst Maldivians. He has created a 'religion' of submission and a solid powerbase to ensure that his rule is unchallenged.

Human Rights abuses in the Maldives have been documented for well over 15 years now by internationally recognised bodies such as Amnesty International. No one in their right mind can deny or argue that Gayyoom is anything but a dictator.

There are many Maldivians who have not given up their hope of establishing true democracy in the Maldives. After the events of September 19^th thousands of Maldivians, dissidents and those living in Maldives, began an organised campaign to discredit Gayyoom and oust him from power, legally.

After mounting pressure from the international community as well as the local community, Gayyoom announced a reform agenda. Gayyoom took the credit and said that he had these ideas long ago but Members of the Parliament rejected these proposals. He categorically said this in his self acclaimed Reform Speech of 9^th June 2004. To the contrary, we discovered a letter he had written to the Speaker of the Majlis, his brother Abdullah Hameed explaining what kind of a process he wanted for the election of the President. Many in the Constitutional Assembly (and are prepared to testify to this even today) that they wanted to amend the constitution whereby the President will be elected directly by the people in an election, that the parliament will have no power over who will be the President of the country. Some members have even said that the clauses in the printed constitution are not what were passed in the assembly. With a dictator in power, how can we even begin to make an inquiry about all this?

The desire of the people of Maldives, of liberty and freedom and their readiness for change became evident when reformists started debating politics in open forums after the June speech. Gayyoom was shocked even more when key reformist MPs walked out of the Parliament House in protest on 19^th July 2004. Gayyoom was frustrated and deterred when people of Maldives continued with reform debates despite being banned from organising meetings and conventions. Subsequently, Gayoom could not believe when thousands of Maldivians demonstrated openly in support for democracy and freedom. Gayyoom had no choice but to apprehend them all and teach the Maldivians a lesson, not to defy his rule.

For Gayyoom, it matters not who or which institution it is, local or international, if he is criticised he unleashes his propaganda on them. BBC or European Union, Time Magazine or even us, he hates anything that is even remotely against him.

Gayyoom seriously believes that he is the man for all islands and that he can get away with 'crimes against humanity'. Gayyoom believes that no one is more righteous, wise or compassionate than Gayyoom. He is never wrong.