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Rival Maldivian factions rely on international support Hindustan Times Colombo, 27 August 2004 Photos and graphics added by Maldives Culture sourced from Haveeru and others
Representatives of both factions have visited key capitals in the region and elsewhere to garner support. International support is critical for the Maldives because this chain of islands in the Indian Ocean depends heavily on tourism and imports to sustain itself. President Gayoom's Special Envoy, Ahmed Abdullah, recently visited Colombo and New Delhi, while the expatriate representatives of the dissidents have been interacting with officials, political parties and journalists of other countries both in the region and outside.
To get the support of the United States, the Gayoom Government is trying to portray the current agitation, which had led to the detention of nearly 200 people including some top personalities, as having the potential to be used by Islamic Fundamentalists, a local version of the Al-Qaeda.
The fact that the charismatic young fundamentalist leader, Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed, had dominated the agitation on August 13 and 14 in the capital Male, has been highlighted. The fact that the Shiekh described the American section in the National Library as a center for spreading Christianity in the Muslim country, is being brought to light to warn the US about a new threat from this corner of the world.
Latheef did not deny that Islamic Fundamentalism could be a problem in later years, but said that Gayoom was using the Sheikh phenomenon to deflect attention from his misdeeds and put off reform. He said that Gayoom had been running a dictatorship for the past 26 years, supported only by the all pervasive security apparatus, a handpicked parliament, and a bunch of relatives and cronies. The President had failed to note that Maldivians were educated, had aspirations like people everywhere else, and were refusing to be treated as a bunch of ignoramuses.
Gayoom is cultivating the Chinese too. According to Latheef, during his forthcoming visit to Beijing, Gayoom is likely to offer the Chinese, facilities to locate a submarine base in the Maldives. The beleaguered Maldivian President is hoping to get the support of fellow dictator, Gen Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan also. Latheef said that the dissidents had little or no hope of fighting this because Gayoom and Musharraf were birds of the same feather. According to Latheef, the visit of Gayoom's Special Envoy, Ahmed Abdullah, to New Delhi was not a success. "We have information that the Indian External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, was well briefed, and that Abdullah had to answer some very searching questions," he said. The government of India's statement issued after Abdullah's visit, is indicative of New Delhi's stance. It said that India was keenly observing President Gayoom's initiative to usher in democratic and constitutional reforms, that it supported the democratic process and hoped that "it would be taken to the rightful conclusion." India, the statement added, was ready to assist the Government and the people of Maldives in this "noble and complex" endeavour. In Sri Lanka, however, there is a marked tilt towards the dissidents, perhaps because among the dissidents in detention are the former Secretary General of SAARC Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, former President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and a leading South Asian businessman, Gasim Ibrahim, and former Attorney General, Mohammad Munawar. Prior to her departure for the UK, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga had asked Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar to find out what was happening the Maldives and express Sri Lanka's concern. "The Island" daily in a editorial condemned President Gayoom for his high handed actions and asked Sri Lanka to support the pro-democracy movement. Asked if international pressure would make Gayoom tone down his authoritarian regime, MDP spokesman, Latheef, said that Gayoom would do his utmost to stick to power. "Gayoom's record gives no hope. He took 17 years to give the country a constitution, but only to misuse it and make a mockery of parliament, elections, and freedom of expression," Latheef said.
"The entire country is controlled by the National Security Service (NSS) controlled by Gayoom's brother, Yameen. The other brother, Abdullah Hameed, is the Speaker of a handpicked, rubber stamp parliament. Hameed also controls local government in the atolls through a system of patronage. He rigs the elections," Latheef said. Latheef's two daughters, one of whom, Jennifer, is a US trained film maker, are in detention since September. " Because of the name Jennifer, the government is trying to make out that I am involved in a Christian-inspired conspiracy. But the fact is that I am very good Muslim, who prays five times a day," Latheef said. According to him, the Maldivian press has no freedom with all the three dailies owned by Gayoom's people, a brother in law and two ministers. Journalists who raised their voice would be thrown into jail, he said. Corruption is high according to the dissident leader, with money being made by cronies through export-import, and infrastructure development projects.While unemployment is high, the use of drugs has become a major problem, Latheef says. "Drugs are coming from India and Pakistan via Colombo," he said. The armed forces and the security apparatus being the main pillars of the Gayoom regime, an awful lot is spent on this, according to Latheef. "The Maldives spends more on defense as a percentage of the GDP than Sri Lanka which has been facing an insurrection for two decades. The Maldives is next only to Israel and is among the first ten in terms of defense spending as percentage of the GDP," the dissident leader said. |
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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.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com
