Mohamed Nasheed one month anniversary failed big time to sell himself as a democratic leader.

written by Ilham Mohamed

President Nasheed’s one month anniversary list of success listed in the Maldives President’s Office website is a delusion. He has failed big time as he made the big mistake of not realising the reality; that people voted for an alliance of political parties not for him and a weak MDP manifesto which he dictatorially is trying to achieve. The sooner he realises the fact behind how he got there and why he is there will be better for himself and the rest of us.

President Nasheed has listed in his one month anniversary achievements, what he has done to fulfil the points of MDP manifesto. What he did not understand is Maldivian did not vote for him, or MDP or his manifesto, but instead voted for the alliance of parties that united together to form an inclusive government of the people by the people. Unfortunately he does not realise the cold hard fact was he and MDP at that time happened to be just lucky as they happened to be the one with a slight majority to contest against President Gayoom in the second round. Because of the mobilisation of the political parties in the Gawmee Ithihaad people voted with a heavy heart, because they neither like MDP nor Mohamed Nasheed. Otherwise he would not be there today. He as a leader was dragged and MDP as a party was disliked by many who voted for Gawmee Ithihaad.

Forgetting this very basis of how he became the president he has already got rid of Jumhoory leader Gasim Ibrahim and soon the rest will be shown the exit door. At the moment those who belong to the other parties are not in control at all including DR Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik the vice President. Their role as ministers and their ministries are hijacked by Nasheed’s political novices appointed as state ministers. The people who belong to the other parties the only educated and skilled lot are used as decorative façade. Pre-occupied with the delusional belief that he became the president due to popular support for him and his campaign manifesto, he has already illegally been engaged in fulfilling the pledges manifesto, starting from the bit of making the Maldives the only country in the world without a prison.

Furthermore his never ending political appointments to the manifesto provision of small government have now set the record of the biggest government ever formed in the history of Maldives. Without any shame individuals consist of an army of political neophytes of 18 state ministers and their assistants on top of the 14 cabinet positions. According to the newspaper Haveeru the “meant to be small government” which ended up setting the record for the biggest government now stands at 14 cabinet ministers and 18 state ministers and more assistants added to aid the state ministers. He might as well get rid of the cabinet ministers from other parties whom he had virtually replaced with MDP state ministers. The salary to the eighteen state ministers while is a whopping thirty two thousand; they also receive an added bonus of fifteen thousand taking their total monthly income to fifty thousand, half a lakka of Maldivian currency. Instead of considering the right people for these jobs these positions have been given as grants to loyalists of MDP and Nasheed.

On the one month anniversary in his manifesto that gave more importance to his old friends from prison than the security of the people, we have no prison in the country. All the prisoners stood up with a few days of hunger strike for the favour they have been promised by Nasheed in return for votes and even convicted criminals among the 600 that populated the prison got out. The rehabilitation centres meant for drug addicts and Feydhoo finolhu, the beautiful holiday island used by Maldivian families for picnics has been taken to house the prisoners who were convicted of violent crimes, burglaries, fraud and robberies etc.

Of the little things that were in the manifesto like decentralisation when we look at Nasheed’s claims made in his one month anniversary in reality has been twisted and turned into something which is totally against the spirit of decentralisation and absolutely to something that people are strongly expressing against. For example people from Fuvahmulah and Addu were ok with decentralisation but then once Nasheed decided to change the nature and history of everything and unify atolls into a bunch and change the atolls name, people are rising against him. On top of everything his bunch of novices appointed on an award basis who cannot possibly even sell themselves as credible decision makers are appointed to sell his ideas. The only thing he achieved for MDP and himself in term of manifesto is creating and awarding more political positions to MDP members with a fat pay check.

He does not realise that it would still be better for him to think once again why people voted for him and how he ended up as the president in the first place, and then try to find out what the people want from him instead of seeking a mumbo jumbo manifesto that secured him only 25 percent of the votes in the first round. Nasheed, so far in the one month anniversary only has done one thing, which can only be classified as a blunder not an achievement. Also this blunder is only right by the prisoners of Maldives. Releasing them all from the prison, despite of the fact that under the new constitution neither him no his state minister (See Utube interview to have an idea of the political capacity of this state minister) Shafeeg has any right to release the prisoners. What they have done single headedly by taking payroll decisions into their own hands is a serious breach of the human rights and security of all Maldivian citizens as we have to live in fear due to this unspeakable decision.

On his one month anniversary Mohamed Nasheed failed big time to sell himself as a democratic leader. Instead o protecting democracy and human rights and economic and social security of the people he is in breach of everything he stood for. Instead of providing the small efficient cost minimising government he ended up forming the biggest government with appointment of more ministers than in the history of any presidency. Instead of maximising our security and making the “the clean Maldives he pledged” in his one month anniversary he had ended up making Maldives a less secure place for the general population with violence at an all time high and prisoners released without following any pay roll or rehabilitation procedures On top of that in his one month anniversary he had shown that he had no regard for the constitutional methods laid out for the government running process. In his one month anniversary he had proven to be the worst dictator as he and his ministers and advisors keep growing and are consuming the Maldives budget as salaries, while the people are still poverty stricken, economically and socially deprived, due to more promises than action.

Mohamed Nasheed’s one month as president has shown him as a deceiver, a dictator, the most authoritarian decision maker who had no respect for the separation of power and is making decisions single headedly about everything. Moreover he had shown us that he is a slave to the rich resort owning families of Maldives and is engaged in the corruption to follow their rules ignoring what is best for the people and the country and what the people fought so hard for. Proof is despite the huge expression against it the fifty year lease of island resorts he had decided to go through with it against the people’s wishes.

This government following the month anniversary has shown that it is engaged in corruption, dictatorial decision making and the whole government is formed to award the political novices of MDP loyalists in the form of fat pay checks, that the Gawmee Ithihaad people voted for has been marginalised to pave way for the MDP neophytes. One month Presidential anniversary of Anni is the biggest horror story of democracy aspirations gone wrong, derailed, and destroyed. May Allah save us from these opportunistic foragers!!!