31st July 2004

Part One

The Early Days

One year has passed since the day President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom left in exile. His life is now based in Nigeria, staying with friends he made back in 1969 when he was a teacher there. It was the smartest move ever made by the despot, by avoiding bloodshed in the capital city of Male'. Attempts to bring him back to the country to stand trial for the crimes he committed whilst abusing the power of the highest executive, have been futile. Hope he is happy there.

Ex-president Gayyoom's departure followed the critical mistakes he made leading up to his departure. Early in the year 2004, the pro-reform public organised a small peaceful gathering to deliver a letter informing the activities of MDP and other united reformists. This gathering was thwarted by mass arrests of reformists though out the capital city. The reformists waited for the situation to calm down before another peaceful gathering could be organised. This time the demands were to restore peace and order in the country and the immediate and unconditional resignation of the presidency. The president responded to the unarmed public with rubber bullets and tear gas; claiming it was un-Maldivian to do such activities. He claimed it was done in the interest of national security. The public had seen enough of this mans unrelenting iron fist, his strong hold on their lives. A do-or-die mob took matters into their own hands and was on the verge of organising a not-so-peaceful gathering. Gayyoom got the hint that his reign of terror was over. Before the gathering could take place he secretly left the country in the early hours of the morning.

When Gayyoom left, the country was on the verge of a civil war. The local communities were divided between reformists, wealthy Gayyoom supporters and the poor folks that were simply stuck in the middle. Not sure of their future, they were afraid to speak out in fear of repercussions. It was dark scary times.

In the middle of all the despair Gayyoom's resignation and subsequent departure from the country brought hope and much confusion to the population of Maldives. The country was on the brink of division.

The remnants that remained from the Gayyoom regime tried to seize control of the nation for their own gains. Ilyas Ibrahim and Abdullah Yameen along with high ranking leaders within the NSS declared martial law and tried to take control. The public remained subdued for a week before coming out in force to demand fair elections and proper rule of law. Many were arrested and jailed. The dead bodies of five pro-reform activists were found in the capital city of Male'. Cause of death remains unknown.

Things would have continued to degenerate if the UN had not stepped in to stabilize the situation. After the unexplained deaths, the uprising that followed was backed by the UN demanding fair elections and accountability. Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) members and other political activists in exile started arriving back in the capital under the protection of UN peace keepers. Ilyas Ibrahim and Yameen relinquished power to an interim government peacefully. Things began to change.

One of the first things done by the interim government was to declare that the Maldives would be run by a true democracy. Parties were formed. Defections from the already existing MDP created the Socialist Democratic Party of Maldives (SDP). Maldives National Congress (MNC) and the Maldivian Conservative Party (MCP) also came into play in Maldivian politics. The state in an attempt to discourage future leaders from abusing Islam for their own personal and political gains separated itself from religion. The public was apprehensive of the new changes, unsure what this new system of governance would hold for their future and religion. Allegations against members of some of the parties about drug addicts and power hungry disgruntled ex-Gayyoomists with no respect for Islam were laid to rest by the announcement of the Supreme Islamic Council of Maldives and its role in Maldivian politics. The council was given a permanent place in the parliament and their role was to ensure that Maldivian's remain true to our religion of Islam whilst embracing the developments of the west and the east. This council, whilst ensuring this, were not allowed to gain power itself, but was to remain rather as a regulatory body. In parliament they would guarantee that Islam in the Maldives would not be compromised by any act of parliament. The circle of five in Maldivian politics was born.

Islam would remain the official religion of Maldives by order of the Constitution.

The second most important announcement of the Interim government was the deregulation of all media. Copyright laws were introduced and censorship was removed. Freedom of the press and speech was recognised as most crucial towards reform and re-building a nation. This was followed by decreasing the voting age to 18 from 21. This was based on the fact that the interim government recognises everybody above the age of 18 as legally adults and they too have a say in how the country should be run.

Elections were held to elect the Members of the parliament. The public was determined to make sure that the parliament was truly representative of every Maldivian regardless of whom they are or from where they came. As the dust settled after the elections, MDP had gained the most number of seats. The rest were for the most part evenly divided including a few independent MP's. The new parliament was now in place.

First on the agenda was the presidential election. It was unanimously determined by the parliament that the presidential term should not exceed that of 2 five year terms, under any circumstances. It was a one off a kind decision as they decided that it was the one law of the country that could not ever be amended at a later date by anyone for personal gains.

All parties were requested to present their candidates, Independent candidates were also asked to come forward for the presidential election.

The parties held their own caucus style elections through out the nation to come up with their candidates to nominate. They presented the parliament with 4 candidates, one for each party. As the candidates started to campaign officially for the presidency there were 4 partisan candidates and 3 independents. Two of the independents would later drop out of the race partially due to lack of funds but also through lack of support.

The election had unprecedented large voter turnout in the history of Maldives. The biggest shock came when the sole independent candidate left, won the election over the 4 party candidates. It is believed this is due to the fact that the majority of the public was still uncertain about the whole party system. As time went by the public opinions changed and would later believe that the party system is one of the best things to ever happen to the country.

Second on the agenda for the new parliament was to make preparation for the necessary amendments to the constitution. Today amendments to the constitution are being made according to the changing requirements of the people in a constantly changing world.

As the new president took oath for the highest executive of the nation, he was faced with the massive task of re-building a nation from the ground up. The next few moves he made would determine the future of his presidency.

The first issue talked about by the new government was the issue of employment and worker rights. Working times and unions for fair treatments of workers were put into place to protect the Maldivian working public. The government would have no control of the unions. Working hours were changed to nine to five for both government and private sectors as official working hours. It was an important move by the government to make sure that the private and the public sector worked effectively in the same time frame of the day. It proved to be a better system than the half day public sector and the 12 hours plus in the private sector that was in place during the Gayyoom regime. The weekend would remain the same as before with Friday and Saturday as the weekend.

During the time of the workers "revolution", the agenda of minimum wage became a major issue. Old Gayyoom era wages like MRF1500 for the public sector and the completely unregulated wages of the private sector were creating massive social and economic problems for individual families. It had been taking its toll.

The government graciously acknowledged the problem and a study was conducted to find out how much is a viable minimum starting wage for all employees, regardless of which sector they work in. The only condition was that the workers had to be above the age of 18 years to be eligible to receive the minimum wage benefit.

The finding of the study revealed that a realistic monthly starting wage for all working Maldivian's would be MRF6000, a sharp contrast to the Gayyoom era wages. The new minimum wage was implemented. Within months the living conditions and the lifestyles of the average Maldivian increased dramatically. The value of the money in comparison to foreign currencies around the world rose considerably as increased public spending and Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) regulations to control inflation and monetary value were put in place and maintained. Maldivian's were finally becoming rich as a community. The grossly unfair wealth distribution and the large income disparity that existed during the "dark ages" of Gayyoom slowly began to fade into memory. With the new changes firmly in place Maldives would later go on to become an economic powerhouse in the SAARC region. It was time for Maldives to be removed from the list of under developed and poor nations and graduate into a fast developing nation with prospects.

The president could have been a great chess player. Completely backed by the parliament now, it was like him and his government could do no wrong. His moves were calculated to the last detail. He knew what the public wanted next even before it became an issue in parliament. And he had his next move ready and waiting.

It is widely believed that he knew mass education of the peoples was the next best thing that he could do for the country. It would create the work force needed to move the country forward. But he was now faced with a bigger problem. There was no focused direction forward that existed that we could go towards. Small businesses and resort ownership and such were all fine, but it lacked direction completely. This was no longer the case. He had envisaged a way to provide that focus for all sectors of the nation. His next move made it certain the sophomore president's star would remain high in the sky for years to come.

The President of New Maldives; who will it be?

Part Two

A Nation of the Rise

It was the second year since the departure of Gayyoom or as I like to call it the second year of our nations rebirth.

The project announced by the new president and his government was the biggest rebuilding of a nation ever announced in the history of all small nations anywhere in the world.

The developments spearheaded by Gayyoom were stopped. Old plans by Gayyoom to expand tourism throughout the atolls and upgrade the harbors of all inhabited islands, as utopian as it sounds were an economic waste of resources. Any body would tell you trying to build and modernize 200 inhabited islands is a near impossible task. Given the time when the Gayyoom's plans were announced, it is safe to say it was never really going to happen, but merely an empty promise to shut up the population getting restless over issues of political, economic and social reform. It seems that is was merely propaganda employed by Gayyoom to subdue the population.

Instead a plan was announced to divide the Maldives into four economic zones for development. Instead of one city in the form of Male', in the coming decades there will be 4 major cities in the Maldives and the expansion of tourism to every atoll would still go ahead as planed. This new plan was probably the best initiative ever taken by a Maldivian leader in its long and sometimes painful history. The new government was on a roll and it seemed anything was possible at the time.

Addu Atoll (Seenu) was announced to be the port city of Maldives. In time a massive harbour will be built in the inter-connected islands of Addu Atoll. The harbour would be more than capable of competing with the harbours of Sri Lanka and Singapore. Since Maldives does not have many natural resources to create our own products for export, re-export would be key to solving most of our problems. Many other specializing industries would follow to sustain such a massive project. Higher education for all and incentives for new businesses were high on the government agenda. A subsidy system was created to encourage business to establish themselves around the port. This would apply for other regions based on the industries.

The rest of the interconnected islands in the atoll would be given the Hulhumale' treatment. Instead of giving small plots of land to massive families that is later going to be divided up to matchboxes for living in congested areas, planned cities and apartment style living would be the new Maldivian way of life. Every married couple will be given the opportunity to buy apartments with government incentives for home ownership.

As development carries on, every existing resident of the islands would have the priority choice on the apartments as the government decided to purchase all land in the island from the inhabitants. Second choice would be given to residents of the newly divided economic region before it goes on sale nation wide. The population of the new island of Addu would be around the 50,000 mark. Nearby unconnected islands would also be given the Hulhumale' treatment as satellite towns of Addu, the new city. It was exiting times for Maldivian's.

Nearby atolls Gaafu Alifu, Gaafu Dhaalu and Gnaviyani were also included in this economic region. All fisheries related developments would be concentrated into this region.

The second zone for economic development was the Laamu Atoll. The connected islands in this atoll are to be developed to handle inner-city tourism. Hotels, activities for tourist and locals to co-exist in a peaceful manner in a uniquely designed Island (the Hulhumale' treatment) that caters for every aspect of city tourism. This would be available in the Laamu Atoll Island. The idea behind this region is to compete with such lucrative markets like Bali, Tahiti and Ibiza. Again satellite towns of the main island would come in time according to demand.

The third economic zone is the existing Male' zone. Solving the problems of overcrowding of this region was the main issue on the new governments plan. Public announcement and awareness campaigns went into full gear within months of the announcement. Opportunities for a lucrative real estate market, re-export, city based tourism, and home owner ship of every married couple and public partnership in achieving these incredible dreams were all part of that campaign.

The satellite town of Villingili in Male' Atoll was announced as the home of the new University of Maldives. The streets were gradually widened to allow a Hulhumale' treatment for the island. Along side the existing population of Villingili, it will be mostly shared with students staying at hostels coming from all over the nation. University buildings, student hostels, apartments and a central shopping and services area would be developed.

Maldivian's are a funny bunch of people. Even at the most critical of times we would get worked up about the most irrelevant of things. In the second year of the New Maldives, the fight regarding what to do with the presidential palace was one of the prime examples. One group wanted it to be a university building while the others wanted it to remain as the presidential palace. In the end Muleeaage became the white house of Maldives. It is both the presidential office and residence. In a full compromise by the government, the new office building on the seafront became a University Faculty building. Theemuge along with Medhu Ziyaarai became the new National Museum.

Efforts to clean up Male' and to make it more people friendly would include the removal of the wall surrounding the Sultan Park making it a one of kind unique "Hiffaseyha Maidhaan". It was later renamed, "The Sultans Botanical Gardens".

He would also privatise, STO, Dhiraagu, TVM and the Voice of Maldives. It was followed by fair competitive businesses to compete with the respective businesses.

The forth economic development zone would be the atolls located in the northern most end of Maldives. Even with years of neglect by Gayyoom of this region, as a personal vendetta against the people of the region, the island of Hanimadhoo with already existing facilities like an adequate sized airport and such would be made the centre of development. As the region contains many large islands with quite large populations it would be a difficult to implement such drastic methods of development, but this does not mean that it would be ignored. Instead it was actually crucial to the sustainability of the four economic zone system.

Hanimadhoo will be the first island to receive the coveted dream like planned city treatment. More would follow in time. The same regulations and rules would apply as the other regions and factory work would be the main objective for this region. Incentives would be given to entrepreneurs of this region to start up garment, house hold furniture and traditional arts and crafts factories would be the main source of income for the region. This sector would be encouraged to house much of the Maldives existing and new industries.

The populations of these new cities would be around a manageable 50,000 or so. Opportunities for private businesses to operate ferry type transportation by seaplane between all major cities and satellite towns would be made possible.

This plan created uproar among the local communities as fears of resort style living for family and friends of the president and high ranking officials were assumed to be behind such a project. All fears were laid to rest in due time as the projects started to take life and jobs and opportunities became abundant.

Regardless of the economic zone all uninhabited island are going to be considered for tourism development. It was the president's belief that all benefits from the lucrative tourism market belonged to the people and not to a select few or to a selected region.

As the new developments were being implemented, preparations were underway to bring justice to the remnants of the Gayyoom regime. Assets of these criminals were frozen and confiscated by the government and hefty sentences were passed on. Ilyas Ibrahim, Yameen, Anbaree Abdul Sattar, Abdullah Hameed, Adam Zahir, Koli Ali Maniku, Fathuhula Jameel, Zahir Hussein all got life imprisonment with without possibility of parole with hard labour. Ahmed Abdullah got 15 years while Ismail Shafeeu got 10 years. Many others in the lower ranks were also prosecuted. Koli Ali Maniku died of a heart attack in prison. Even without Gayyoom being brought to justice this gave some relief to the Maldivian people that had suffered during the brutal dictatorship of Gayyoom.

As a final act of greatness by the president, he would officially complete the work he started and establish the 4 states of the nation. These were all headed by elected governors who reported to a federal government based in the capital Male'. The atolls that fell into the individual states would still have an atoll chief as before, who now reported to the governors of their respective state instead to the federal government. The atoll chiefs would also be elected.

The first president of the new Maldives would serve for two full terms. The public adored the president and was even requested to stay on for a third term. Being a man of principles, he pointed out the clause of 2 terms for the president in the constitution and to much fan fare stepped down when the time came. Being a man of business he returned to the business world he had left behind when he became the president of the Maldives. He is also highly respected statesman on the speaking circuit and remains so to this day.

A map of the newly established economic states of the Maldives.

Part Three

A Retrospective

It is the twentieth year of the new Maldives. The tyranny of Gayyoom is not even a distant memory today. The man is neither remembered nor revered, simply forgotten. Occasionally you would hear a mother sing to a sleepy child "Gayyoomu arraane, migey dhoshan naadhey". It is almost funny how things have changed.

Two more presidents were to follow in the footsteps of the great first president. The second president was a party affiliated president from MDP. He would continue to follow the work started by the first president.

He initiated the bridge projects that we are used to seeing now. The debates went on in the parliament as to whether it was a bridge or an under-sea tunnel that would serve Maldivian's for years to come. It was decided a bridge would be better for the time being as it has more visual flare than a tunnel and that looking good is just as important as being practical. Bridges were to be built between Male' and Hulhumale'/Airport and between male' and Villingili. Construction started without delay. The project is a joint venture between Maldivian companies (Construction, Civil engineers, and architects) and a foreign company.

Even with the bold and brave bridge projects under his belt, he failed to be re-elected for a second term. It is believed widely that the president paled in comparison to the last one and the people had already upped their expectations of our presidency.

On the fifteenth year of New Maldives, a third president was elected to office. He is a Socialist Democratic president from the previously mentioned circle of power.

One of his proudest moment was the opening of the very first bridge in the Maldives last year. It connected Hulhumale'/airport with Male'. It was a proud moment in Maldivian history as a dream that is as old as time was realised. The face of Male, because of the new bridge looks divine.

The bridge that is being built between Male' and Villingili would be finished in 2 more years time if it goes without any more problems like the first bridge. The first bridge was delayed for more than a year as a massive problem came across during construction. Halfway through construction it was found out that an engineering flaw meant that the bridge would not last long. Rough seas and high winds were threatening to bring it down. A minor glitch, as far as the experts were concerned. But it delayed the project by a year as the problem was fixed. Maldivian's no longer tolerated short term measures.

As another election draws near, it is widely believed that the Socialist Democratic president would be re-elected due to the projects started by the president.

The shallow reef on the right of Male' is being reclaimed, much like the Hulhumale' island 20 years ago. Once completed it will be twice the size of Hulhumale' and a planned city will be built. Land space with the population at more than half a million is stretched to the limit. More space is required.

One of his other plans is to start privatising the remaining government business that was yet to be made private. As previous government monopolies enter the private competitive market more jobs and opportunities would be made available to the public.

He would also become a champion for environmental issues effecting Maldives. He would later remove Maldives from the list of developing countries and graduate it to a developed country.

The development we have seen in the last 20 years is phenomenal. What Gayyoom did in 25 years the first president did in less than five years and moved on to new territory. Today, we take scheduled ferry style high speed boats and seaplanes to every inhabited island like we were taking a bus. Well actually it is. It's called the SeaBus.

Today the atolls are very well off. Laamu Atoll officially does compete with the markets of Bali and Tahiti and such. If anything it is better because of the economic and political stability that we have been having for the last 20 years.

The re-export trade continue to share the top spot with tourism as the major industries of the country. Tourism has spread to every atoll in the country and there is no end to the amount of island available for tourism development. The fisheries industry is also booming. There are very little, if any monopolies in the country.

Male' today is a very beautiful city with a manageable population. A project is being carried out to refresh the old and congested took of Male'.

The northern region today exports Maldivian made products and arts and crafts to Europe, USA and eastern Asia. The region still struggles a little bit every now and then, but plans of expansion of businesses and new investors in the region hold much promise in the near future. This region has become a manufacturing powerhouse.

The criminal justice system has been amended now for some time. People who get arrested are only held in custody for one working day without the ruling of a judge. After being charged with a crime, they are kept in house arrest. This is done along with bail depending on the type of case. Investigations are held with investigators looking for clues, forensics and intelligence. This stands in contrast to the old Gayyoom system of acquiring confessions from the arrestee while they are being beaten up in custody.

Cases are presented in courts with the defendants having lawyers to defend themselves. Cases have to be proven without reasonable doubt in front a jury of 12 eminent men and women. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty.

There have been very little claims of human rights violations in the country. Our laws have long since been amended according to the Paris Principles.

Maldives today is proof that an Islamic democracy can function side by side with western democracies. It has been the inspiration for many small nations through out the world.

Granted, we still have a small number of poor people, people who complain about the ways things are handled and people who complain for no apparent reason. Every country regardless of what its leaders do has these people but the percentage of the poor has dropped to about 5% in the last 20 years from the 47% it was under Gayyoom. Unemployment is at 8%. Maldivian's are more energised with a more positive can-do attitude. Socially and economically it has never been better.

All the developments that we experience today are all thanks to the far sight and initiative taken by a few brave souls 20 years ago, when they called out for reform. Kudos to those heroes of our nation that remain in a very special place in our collective hearts. The five dead pro-reform activists were honoured as national heroes and due compensation was paid to their families. They will never be forgotten.

Nobody ever really knows whatever happened to Gayyoom. If he is alive and still in Nigeria is unknown for certain. Being forgotten is a fate worse then death to a man like Gayyoom, whose main purpose was seeking attention at any given opportunity. Speaking of Gayyoom, does anybody ever really know for sure what was in his 20-20 "thasavvaru"? Get more money?

But then I wake up. Gayyoom is still in power. I have to face the harsh reality of my own life. The dream was merely the manifestation of my own desire.

It is a desire, I think, shared by many of us.

It is a desire, I think, that can be attained.

It is a desire, I hope, that will be our future.

Last night I had this dream.

Today I wrote it down.

Tomorrow we can take the first steps towards realising it.

THE END

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one

John Lennon

IMAGINE

About the author Muju M. Naeem is a final year film student living in Brisbane, Australia. In his short career he has an extensive body of work including 6 short films, 2 documentaries, 2 music videos. He is currently developing his directorial debut film. He has had articles published about the Maldives on the web and in internet newsletters.

His achievements include winning the Audience Choice Award, Best Film at the Courier Mail Short Cut film festival 2004 held in Brisbane. He both acted and worked behind the camera of the winning film Dan Steel - Vice Squad.

He is a pro-reform activist and helps out with the cause of bringing true democracy to the country. He believes mass education and the usage of various art forms can make citizens more aware and effective to the society.

About the editor Andrew Finn is a young up-and-coming author living in Brisbane, Australia. He has just finished his first manuscript. He was studying town planning when he decided to pursue his first love. He is now a film student and a screen writer.

send your comments to muju_n@hotmail.com