Trouble in paradise: Maldives on the brink?

Observers say that in this one-party state, a show of dissent is rare, and rarer is the graduation of dissent into violence. Maldives President Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, the longest serving Asian head of state, who describes Maldives as a "unique democracy," is perturbed at the level of dissent that has been simmering for several years, and the state of emergency comes at a time when he has already expressed his intention to enact political reform in the next five years, i.e. within the timeframe of his sixth term as president.

Mr. Gayoom has ruled the tiny island nation for the greater part of its independent existence that came about in 1965 when Britain gave this Indian Ocean island protectorate of hers self-rule. In addition to being the head of state, Mr. Gayoom is also by constitution, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and of the Police, Minister of Defence and National Security, Minister of Finance and Treasury, and Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority.

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The constitution empowers Mr. Gayoom to appoint the Cabinet and one-sixth of Parliament, and the "supreme authority to propagate the tenets of Islam." President Gayoom also has control over the judiciary in that he has the power to appoint and dismiss judges, and to review and overturn decisions of the High Court.

Insofar as economic prosperity of Maldives, is concerned there is indeed considerable merit in the president's claim that it is his rule that has brought the Maldives the high economic growth that it now enjoys. This is borne out by its per capita income which in the region of two thousand US dollars. Whether or not the per capita income is distributed equally all over the island and among the population of about a quarter million is another question. One would have to admit, though, that the Maldives economic figures would make any South Asian country proud to have achieved half of, particularly its per capita income.

Reportedly, the recent protest began when people gathered in front of the police headquarters in Male demanding the release of four reformists who were arrested last week. The recent discontent surfaced in a virulent form after Gayoom was selected in a referendum, with him as the only candidate, in Oct 2003. Although Maldives' constitution provides for free presidential election, open to participation by any Maldavian who is a Sunni Muslim above the age of thirty-five and of sane mind, there has never been a candidate that opposed President Gayoom in the elections. Why and how there came to be no one to oppose Gayoom at the ballots, there being so much opposition to him on the streets, is difficult to explain.

It is, however, an interesting development, given his predilection for power, that Gayoom should contemplate political reform at this point in time when, according to his own description, it was during his presidency that the tiny island state developed in the way it has.

But Gayoom's opponents say that the economic development has come at a huge cost to human rights and democracy. The last twenty-six years, Gayoom has ruled Maldives as a dictator brooking no dissent. Even in the Majlish that is supposed to be elected every five years, the president has the constitutional right to appoint eight of the fifty that make up the parliament. There are no political parties in Maldives other than the ruling one.

It was soon after he took office for the sixth time that Gayoom promised reforms, but his government has been faced with violence ever since, something that Amnesty International attributes to government repression and torture, particularly of reformists whom Gayoom considers his political opponents. The protest in the streets of Male last week as well as those that occurred in 2003, prior to and after his sixth-term ballot, indicate the growing frustration of the Maldavians at the slow pace of political reform.

The proposed reforms make very interesting reading. For example, the changes suggested would in good measure curtail the president's powers, in that, he would not be able to appoint the eight members of the parliament that the current constitution empowers him to. It would also allow freedom of association, which in itself is significant since although the current constitution allows political parties, Maldives is in fact a one-party state.

But his critics question the right of the Maldives president to amend the constitution, which they claim is the exclusive preserve of the special Majlish (Upper House), whose function and composition is also stated in the Maldives' constitution. The power to make and amend the Constitution of the Maldives shall be vested in the People's Special Majlish, according to Article 92 of the constitution.

But Maldavians' skepticism arises more from what Gayoom's brothers are doing to ensure that his reform measures are not implemented. There are reports that one of his brothers has threatened practically all the heads of the atolls and the islands that unless they get people to write to the president asking not to introduce the party system, they will not only lose their jobs, they might also end up with suspension and long prison sentences. He has publicly called upon the people of Maldives to reject the very amendments his elder brother Gayoom has proposed in his speech on June 9, including pluralistic democracy and separation of powers. Another of his brothers proudly claims that, "we the Kaaminee clan owns this country and there is nothing anyone can do about it -- we have the power to do whatever we want!"

The winds of change have come upon what some describe as the paradise island of the Indian Ocean. By all indications President Gayoom is not blind to the recent developments. The sooner the people of Maldives become master of their own fate and captain of their own destiny, the developments that are claimed to have taken place may help the system in Maldives to be more egalitarian than what it is now.

Changes in Maldives will come about eventually in spite the Kaaminee clan's claims to the law of primogeniture.

The author is Editor, Defense and Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.