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| President, Mohammed Nasheed |
Mobhare Matinyi, The Citizen, Friday, Thursday, 10 February 2012.
The former head of education at the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) Tanzania Office, Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan, 59, is now the new president of the tiny archipelago nation of the Maldives. The tiny lowland nation lies in the Indian Ocean, a couple of miles south of Sri Lanka.
The former head of education at the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) Tanzania Office, Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan, 59, is now the new president of the tiny archipelago nation of the Maldives. The tiny lowland nation lies in the Indian Ocean, a couple of miles south of Sri Lanka.
Popularly known as Dr Waheed, he becomes the fifth president since independence from Great Britain in 1968. He had been the Vice President since 2008, until this Tuesday, when the popular uprising supported by police kicked out President Mohammed Nasheed, 44.
Reuters and Associated Press reported that Nasheed took a tough decision to step down after two weeks of unrest in the capital Male. The young man, who spent a good deal of his time in the 1990s in and out of prison, told the nation in a televised address: "I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power.
Reuters and Associated Press reported that Nasheed took a tough decision to step down after two weeks of unrest in the capital Male. The young man, who spent a good deal of his time in the 1990s in and out of prison, told the nation in a televised address: "I resign because I am not a person who wishes to rule with the use of power.
The former political activist and writer, Nasheed, was frank enough to add: “I resign because I believe that if the government continues to stay in power, it is very likely that we may face foreign influences." He came to office in the first multiparty election in 2008.
With regards to foreign influence, he didn’t mention any one nation but last time foreign troops intervened in the Maldives was in 1988 when India sent a battalion to protect the autocratic government of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled with an iron fist from 1978 to 2008.
However, Nasheed now claims that he was forced to resign at gunpoint.
The unfortunate Tuesday for Nasheed started with the public response to an announcement by a radio station operated by an opposition party calling people to protest until the government was overthrown.
Luckily for the protestors, instead of police sabotaging the uprising, they joined in and the two groups jointly besieged the Maldives National Defence Force headquarters in the Republic Square in Male.
In a rare move never seen before, members of the military had to fire tear gas to disperse battle-dressed police officers and an angry mob of civilians. The Progressive Party of the Maldives, an opposition party led by Gayoom which lost election to the Maldivian Democratic Party in 2008, was the political impetus behind the riots.
It was a grave mistake by Nasheed on January 16 that set off the demonstrations. Nasheed ordered the military to arrest the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, Abdullah Mohamed, accusing him of siding with Gayoom. The then Vice President, Dr Waheed, opposed the arrest as did Muslims leaders.
Interestingly, Gayoom told his followers that Nasheed was becoming a dictator for that single order of arrest. But as records show, when he was president, Gayoom himself arrested Nasheed 27 times forcing him to spend a total of six years in jail.
Despite the Maldives being an Islamic state with a prohibition of alcohol, the islands are famous for wealthy tourists who receive special treatment far from the main islands populated by the 400,000 Maldives. The isles receive 900,000 wealthy tourists a year, largely invisible to the common people.
According to the United Nations’ estimates, the island’s capital Male is home to almost 250,000 people, and also home to the majority of the estimated 30,000 heroin addicts on the islands. The Maldives, sometimes described as a tropical Afghanistan, is famous for drug abuse, corruption and political mischief.
The Maldives, with negative population growth, is an interesting country in which only fish count as natural resources. To make the matter worse, less than 15 percent of the land is cultivable while close to 60 percent of the territory is desert.
In a rare move never seen before, members of the military had to fire tear gas to disperse battle-dressed police officers and an angry mob of civilians. The Progressive Party of the Maldives, an opposition party led by Gayoom which lost election to the Maldivian Democratic Party in 2008, was the political impetus behind the riots.
It was a grave mistake by Nasheed on January 16 that set off the demonstrations. Nasheed ordered the military to arrest the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, Abdullah Mohamed, accusing him of siding with Gayoom. The then Vice President, Dr Waheed, opposed the arrest as did Muslims leaders.
Interestingly, Gayoom told his followers that Nasheed was becoming a dictator for that single order of arrest. But as records show, when he was president, Gayoom himself arrested Nasheed 27 times forcing him to spend a total of six years in jail.
Despite the Maldives being an Islamic state with a prohibition of alcohol, the islands are famous for wealthy tourists who receive special treatment far from the main islands populated by the 400,000 Maldives. The isles receive 900,000 wealthy tourists a year, largely invisible to the common people.
According to the United Nations’ estimates, the island’s capital Male is home to almost 250,000 people, and also home to the majority of the estimated 30,000 heroin addicts on the islands. The Maldives, sometimes described as a tropical Afghanistan, is famous for drug abuse, corruption and political mischief.
The Maldives, with negative population growth, is an interesting country in which only fish count as natural resources. To make the matter worse, less than 15 percent of the land is cultivable while close to 60 percent of the territory is desert.
Unbelievably, in the Maldives’ list of export partners, Tanzania comes sixth after Thailand, Sri Lanka, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Unfortunately, I have no idea what Tanzania exports from the Maldives.
Dr Waheed, who is celebrated as the first Maldivian to receive a doctorate degree, which he did from Stanford University in the United States, faces a lot of challenges starting with unemployment, and unfortunately for him, he comes from a non-ruling party, the National Unity Party.
That’s the Maldives, the country where only 16 percent of the population is considered poor. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on Purchasing Power Parity is $2.8 billion, making $7,000 the per capita income, more than that of many developing nations.
Could this be an extension of the Arab spring? Maybe yes, maybe no, but one thing for sure is that the Maldivians are no longer interested in seeing their country go back to the times when the president could arbitrarily arrest anyone as he wishes.
Our world is changing fast and political leaders of the developing world must acknowledge that truth or risk losing power shamefully and violently. The world of the twenty-first century is quite different; it belongs to the people.
Dr Waheed, who is celebrated as the first Maldivian to receive a doctorate degree, which he did from Stanford University in the United States, faces a lot of challenges starting with unemployment, and unfortunately for him, he comes from a non-ruling party, the National Unity Party.
That’s the Maldives, the country where only 16 percent of the population is considered poor. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on Purchasing Power Parity is $2.8 billion, making $7,000 the per capita income, more than that of many developing nations.
Could this be an extension of the Arab spring? Maybe yes, maybe no, but one thing for sure is that the Maldivians are no longer interested in seeing their country go back to the times when the president could arbitrarily arrest anyone as he wishes.
Our world is changing fast and political leaders of the developing world must acknowledge that truth or risk losing power shamefully and violently. The world of the twenty-first century is quite different; it belongs to the people.
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