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Plots, Preachers and false
Promises 13 August 2004
The next meeting of the Special Majlis is scheduled for Monday 16 August, after a lengthy recess caused by a walkout and demand for a meeting with the President by reformist MPs in protest against an arbitrary ruling by the normal Majlis speaker Abdullah Hameed (the President's brother and Minister of Atolls) who demanded a 'show of hands' to elect the new Special Majlis speaker. The reformists wanted a secret ballot, arguing that intimidation by Gayyoom's supporters lobbying for their choice, and against the reformist's candidate, meant that many members could not vote honestly in the 'show of hands' demanded by Abdullah Hameed. Immediately after the walkout, Hameed continued the meeting because a quorum of members remained. Proceedings only ended when President Gayyoom phoned his nephew (and Hameed's son) Hamdhoon at the meeting and ordered a recess. The president also met with the protesting members and promised a secret vote for the Special Majlis speaker. Next day, an attempt was made by Special Majlis member Ilyas Hussein to lay treason charges against Abdullah Hameed for undermining the constitution. This action is unprecedented in the history of Maldives and shows the reformers' resolve to control the president and his closest officials. Hameed holds no elected office; all his power is held at the whim of his brother Maumoon Gayyoom who has made him Speaker of the (normal) Majlis, Minister of Atolls and Chairman of the Bank of Maldives. At the meeting with the President after the walkout, the reformers reminded Maumoon Gayyoom that he was not above the law. The President's close control over the opening Special Majlis session is shown by Hameed's arrogance towards the proceedings and the fact that Gayyoom could bring the meeting to an end with a phone call. The constitution gives no commanding role to the President in the affairs of the Special Majlis, and it allows only a minor function to Hameed who is meant to simply facilitate the election of the new Special Majlis speaker. Hameed's 'show of hands' tradition is not mentioned in the constitution, and one section says: 'Voting in elections and public referendums stipulated in the Constitution and the law shall be by secret ballot'. In the case of the election of the speaker (given as the 'president' in the original (English) version of the constitution) of the Special Majlis, Maumoon Gayyoom and his supporters want the compliant Justice Minister Ahmed Zahir to take the chair, but the reformers want wealthy businessman Buruma Gasim. Hameed's intransigence and insistence on a 'show of hands' indicates the reformers' fears of intimidation of Special Majlis members are likely to be true. Unlike a western parliament, where members are answerable to their electors, the Maldives majlis members have been dominated by Hameed who could rig their election or defeat through his atoll and island chiefs, and even call in the NSS if necessary. Under these circumstances, a secret ballot for the Special Majlis speaker would give a more honest result. This is an important election that should be conducted with integrity because the Special Majlis has sweeping powers to change the constitution. Hameed's removal from office is long overdue. His administration in the atolls is a quagmire of ineptitude and scandal, for which Hameed and Gayyoom must take full responsibility. Hameed's reign as Speaker of the Majlis has seen the parliament rendered utterly impotent, reducing the country's lawmaking to 'regulations' issued by the President's office. Over the last few months, Hameed, in league with Gayyoom, has been threatening islanders outside Male' and demanding they reject Gayyoom's own publicly announced agenda of reforms. Gayyoom is doing all he can to prevent real constitutional changes from threatening his dictatorship while simultaneously ignoring the human and political rights guaranteed to all Maldivians under the present 1997 constitution. Reform meetings continue During this protracted Special Majlis recess, reform meetings are drawing larger crowds than ever. Despite a government ban on the use of public buildings, gatherings occur in the guise of birthday parties or picnics at a Male' beach. Gayyoom's sullen reaction to these meetings has not deterred the organisers nor the participants.
This week the government radio issued shrill commands to cease reformist gatherings, and at night the NSS attempted to close off the beach. However, crowd numbers were too great and the event proceeded. Contrary to government warnings and predictions, the meetings have been entirely peaceful. Threatening behaviour has come only from the NSS and thugs organised by Gayyoom's brother, STO boss and Minister of Trade Abdullah Yameen. Preacher's march for justice On Wednesday Ibrahim Fareed, a leading spokesman for conservative Islamic reformists, appeared in court for sentencing on charges described by the attorney general's department as 'attempting to carry out an act against the state and speaking to people in a way that could create religious thoughts and making religious speeches to people in a way that could have undermined the rights of some people in the Maldivian society'. Fareed has proclaimed that multi-party democracy is not against Islam, contradicting the assertions of Gayyoom and government clerics who have been telling the NSS and meetings that majlis and constitutional reforms are anti-Islamic and a plot to Christianise the country. Gayyoom's response to Fareed's criticism has been to brand the preacher as a terrorist. On 1 June 2004, the attorney general was forced to clarify the charges against Fareed after the Maldives Ministry of Information falsely claimed on 28 May 2004 that Fareed was 'arrested and charged over plots to carry out numerous terrorist activities including blowing up places of entertainment, kidnapping senior Government officials, sabotaging the tourism industry and instigating calls for a violent jihad'. No explanation was given for this misinformation, nor was its source revealed. Two years ago on 29 July 2002 and a month after Fareed's initial arrest, the NSS gave written confirmation that he was charged under the Religious Unity Protection law, which has nothing to do with terrorism. Detained by Gayyoom's NSS on the 8 June 2002 because he refused to moderate his critical sermons and impassioned delivery, the Qatar university graduate was held inside a small cell in Male' for a month and then in solitary confinement at Dhoonidhoo prison for total period of one year. In October 2003, Fareed was transferred to house arrest for six months and then released in April 2004. He has been a prominent speaker at the capital's reform meetings.
Sentencing in Maldive courts is directly controlled by the President's office, and Fareed's release should be an admission that these faked charges cause social disorder rather than prevent it. However, Gayyoom's attempt to sentence Fareed was designed to provoke an outbreak of mob violence by Fareed's supporters and provide justification for mass arrests by the NSS. This ploy has failed, and the huge padlock placed on the Presidential Palace gates on Wednesday was only a further symbol of Gayyoom's estrangement from his people. Fareed has endured a month in a Male' jail cell, a year of solitary confinement at Dhoonidhoo and eight months of house arrest, so his release from sentencing brought a surge of relief and indignation from his supporters. His march through Male' was in the tradition of aggrieved people everywhere who voice contempt for injustice. Fareed's action is also a testimony to the failure of the official Maldives media to publicise his plight and the sufferings of many other Maldivians at the hands of the Gayyoom regime. |
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldive cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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