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Gayyoom fooling the nation?
Hoanu
February 2002

Maldives President Gayyoom opened his subservient parliament this month and announced that Maldives fared well despite the world recession last year.

This isn't surprising and echoes Maldivian pro-government propaganda websites that claim he is responsible for the economic miracle of the Maldives. He announced that with his 'mighty magic' the economy was able to grow 2.1%, a figure that needs clarification in a system where all statistics and figures are formulated for his own personal gain. He also has announced couple of years ago that the Maldives economy was growing at 8 or 9 %.

No one knows how Gayyoom calculates these figures.

Gayyoom must be thanking the guys who attacked the WTC and Washington. They did an amazing favour for him because that he can use the incident as a scapegoat for rest of his life.

He blamed Osama for the decline in tourist arrivals and the economic slow-down. The truth is that the Maldivian economy has been in turmoil for the past 5 years.

His fixed exchange rate policy brought pain and stress for ordinary Maldivians. Bankruptcy of the Maldivian airline Air Maldives and his ambitious personal investments such as 'the blue house', his state-of-the-art office building and his yacht, have drained much needed foreign currency from the Maldives and taken the financial system into a mire.

Is this the real reason behind the resignation of Mr Arif Hilmy, the former Finance Minister?

Mr Gayyoom also misrepresented the fisheries sector when he said it has fared better with Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) making 13 percent more fish purchases compared to the period a year ago. According to Malé's Haveeru, 8 December 2001, most people in Huvadhoo atoll were starving as there was no way that they could sell their fish catch. It also quoted Mohamed Anees, island chief of Fiyoari as saying 'the fishermen are distressed because they don't get money for the fish. They only get a receipt for the size of their catch and the amount of money they are owed. They need money now'. Though the President's MIFCO has made a 13 percent increase in fish purchases, the fishermen were neither paid nor fed.

President Gayyoom's deceptions continued. He said that he was able to make 33 Maldives resort islands to win 129 international awards last year. Is he a Hollywood film director where a person's success is measured by the number of Oscars won? His policies and responsibilities should have nothing to do with such awards given by the visitors and magazine readers. It wouldn't matter who was President of Maldives at the time!

And his biggest deception was the usual line that he often repeats. 'President Gayyoom stressed that as always, the policy of the government has been to protect the sovereignty and integrity of Maldives, and upholding the Islamic faith, while propagating justice and equality and promoting the equal distribution of wealth and prosperity among the people,' reports Haveeru 19 Feb 2002.

His real policy was the total opposite. His policy is to terrorise the ordinary citizens of Maldives in the name of upholding Islamic faith. There is no real justice system. Those who criticises him will see the 'dhoonidhoo' [a prison island just north of Malé], and those who fight for human and political rights will end up in jail like Mohamed Nasheed. President Gayyoom's only redistribution of wealth goes to his cronies and his extended family.

The President Praises the Role of the People's Majlis in Maldivian Democracy -
The President says that the Maldives made further developmental progress during the year 2001
Message from the President's Office, Republic of Maldives
21 February 2002


The President praised the role of the People’s Majlis in the Presidential Address that he delivered yesterday on the occasion of the inauguration of the People’s Majlis for the year 2002.

The President highlighted the central role of the People’s Majlis in the country’s democratic political system which he said was enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives. Further, the President noted that the Constitution established a strong link between the executive and the legislature.

In reviewing the year 2001, the President said that with the blessing of the Almighty Allah, the Maldives continued to enjoy peace, security and social harmony. He added that although the country had to face some economic difficulties during the last quarter of 2001, the Maldives continued to make important progress during the year.

Haveeru photo of the opening of the Majlis last year, 2001. In a setting reminiscent of a king's court, Majlis members sit in a semi-circle of separate cubicled seats, looking over a tiled floor (and low wall of flowers) towards the President Gayyoom (left) and his brother Abdullah Hameed, the Speaker of the Majlis.

The President said that the Cabinet had discussed and approved the 6th National Development Plan covering the period 2001-2005. He stressed the importance given in the Government’s development strategy to long-term planning. He said that the Government’s development policies, conceived within the framework of a long-term development plan, focused on achieving specific targets and objectives that were prioritised for each year.

The President said that in pursuing improved quality in the services being provided by the Government to the people, the Government had continued its work on streamlining and increasing the efficiency of public administration. He noted that a framework for the use of IT applications for increasing the efficiency of the functioning of government offices had been drawn up.

On the economic front, the President said that the main policies of the Government the previous year too had been to control inflation, increase the country’s reserves and facilitate sustainable development.

The President said that MIFCO’s purchases of fish had increased by 13 percent over the previous year. However, he noted that as a result of the unfavourable international market conditions, the fisheries sector in the Maldives was faced with serious challenges. He added that the Government had begun to implement the necessary measures to enable the fisheries industry to respond to those challenges.

Referring to the decline in tourism globally during the past year, the President said that the Maldives too had to face the adverse repercussions of the world-wide decline. He said that tourist arrivals in the Maldives fell by 1.3 percent over the previous year. The President noted that the year 2002 would mark the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of tourism in the Maldives and observed that in that period, the industry had grown rapidly and made tremendous progress. He stressed that the Maldives had today become a first class holiday destination of international renown. Recalling that 33 tourist resorts had received a total of 129 international awards and prizes since 1991, the President congratulated all those working in the tourist industry of the Maldives.

The President said that under the 3rd Education and Training Project, the activities for improving the quality of primary education and strengthening the management of the education sector, and the provision of opportunities for higher education abroad were continued during the year 2001.

The President also said that with the objective of increasing the range of health care available in the country, the facilities and services provided at IGMH were further developed last year. He added that Atoll Medical Centres in four atolls were upgraded to Atoll Hospitals with operating theatres.

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