The Cornerstone of Building a Better Maldives is the rejection of Gayyoom's dictatorship ... Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
The cornerstone of building a better Maldives is the rejection of Gayyoom's dictatorship

A.S.I.Moosa (Sappe’), 24 March 2005

How can anyone believe anything Gayyoom says anymore? He said he will reform Maldives back in 1993 as we proved by publishing AFP interview in Haveeru, dated October 7th 1993 (read the article). In that he promised 'Sweeping Reform' but we have seen nothing but more oppression and control of the media.

This AFP interview was his reaction to the common feelings and aspirations for change that he read from Sangu and Hukuru which were banned in early 90's. In addition, he was challenged by his brother in law, Ilyas Ibrahim in the Parliament winning a significant number of votes in the secret ballot to elect a candidate for Presidency. Gayyoom's reaction to that was unbelievable as he accused his own brother in law of everything under the sun and forced him to go into exile and passed a 15 year sentence in absentia. Nevertheless, just a term later (5 years, Ilyas was back in the cabinet as Transport Minister, who is now one of the core figures of Gayyoom's government. The current reform agenda is his way of shutting international and local criticism. Everyone knows that and no one believes him.

There is absolutely no doubt that the great majority of Maldivians are tired of Gayyoom's lying games and false promises. They do not believe that he can reform this country. Nothing he has promised so far with regard to good governance has been delivered whilst he has accumulated tremendous wealth and power to remain as the CEO of Maldives Company Private Limited, where his wish is above the law.

Time has definitely come for people to rise up against this tyrant but the hardcore police and military officers appear to be still siding with the Dictator, protecting him unlawfully. Naturally, not all police and the military, formerly known as National Security Service, are happy with

Gayyoom. They must certainly understand and relate to the aspirations of the people, because they are not aliens from another planet but also members of the community. The sooner they take action and defend their nation, the better for the people of this small country.

International community is oblivious to these tricks or perhaps they don't care. However, Maldives has never had as much exposure as it did over the last 18 months and so some sort of pressure is anticipated and Gayyoom must at least form a system which would look democratic from the outside but operate like a dictatorship from within.

Yesterday, Gayyoom was so happy that he got his way and was able to elect his other brother in law, Abbas Ibrahim as Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly, in contradiction to the constitution according to constitutional and legal experts. It resulted in 15 members staging a protest by walking out from the house and not participating in the vote. Gayyoom saw it as a victory and is expected to throw a party to all his cabinet staff and allies in the parliament, who still show unequivocal support to Gayyoom's dictatorship in total contrast to the aspirations of the people who elected them.

Perhaps one reason why hardcore supporters of Gayyoom in the military and police as well as in key government posts are afraid to side with the people is that they feel that people will not want them to live in Maldives after the fall of Gayyoom. But, they may very well be wrong. If we take everyone who helped Gayyoom to remain in power for the past 27 years, then we are talking about thousands of people. Some did it intentionally others out of fear for their lives and livelihoods. Bottom line is whether we can forgive them? Can we forgive Adam Zahir? Can we forgive Ilyas Ibrahim? Can we forgive any of them? If we can, maybe we should try to express that in some way now. Now is the time for talking about reconciliation.

If the past 27 years teaches us anything, then we must accept that democratic reform will not take place in Maldives as long as Gayyoom is in power. So, we must think of a way to remove him from power, a legitimate way. The cornerstone of building a better nation is to reject dictatorship. That will be the first step of reform that we should celebrate.