It is also the smallest Islamic state in the world. The Maldives holds the record of being the lowest country in the world, with a maximum ground level of seven and a half feet. Over the last century, sea levels have risen by 8 inches, leading to fears that global warming could threaten its very existence.
This endangered paradise has now acquired yet another distinction. After years of rule by the initially popular but growingly despotic President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the Maldives has now effected a remarkable and peaceful transition to multiparty democracy. While Gayoom rode to power in presidential elections--sweeping 92.91% of the popular vote in 1978, in the former British colony--he soon faced the problems and dilemmas that all populist leaders in newly independent Asian and African states confronted.
Surrounded by sycophants and family members, Gayoom soon regarded himself as indispensable. Democratic freedoms were curbed and democratic norms discarded. Mercifully, despite the efforts of Wahhabi-oriented groups with links in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Gayoom steered clear of allowing the Sufi traditions of his country to be submerged by a wave of Islamic radicalism.
With his country strategically located close to the American naval base in Diego Garcia, Gayoom thought it prudent to steer clear of the rivalries that characterized the Cold War years, even though the Maldives drew its revenues largely from Western tourists. He developed close ties with neighbors in South Asia like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and the Maldives became a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
It was precisely because of these relationships that Gayoom, whose country was bereft of armed forces, was able to thwart a coup attempt by a small-time businessman, who enlisted the support of Tamil mercenaries from Sri Lanka in November 1988. Contacted by Gayoom just when the takeover was under way, the Rajiv Gandhi government in New Delhi, India, responded swiftly by airlifting a battalion of paratroopers, while the Indian navy sealed off all exits by the sea. With Gayoom, then the legitimately elected president, restored to power, the Indians soon withdrew, the entire operation being undertaken in close consultation with the Reagan administration.
Gayoom's growing unpopularity and authoritarian rule soon earned the wrath of the international community. Opposition parties were dealt with using strong-arm measures, and human rights activists were jailed on the flimsiest pretexts, leading Amnesty International to note there had been "restrictions on freedom of the press, and political parties were unable to function."
Matters came to a head with riots in 2003. International and domestic pressures forced Gayoom to progressively yield ground. Political parties were permitted to be established in 2005, and earlier this year a new constitution was finalized. The constitution provided for a separation of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary and guaranteed the rights of citizens against arbitrary arrest and detention. For the first time, women were made eligible for the Office of President--an important provision in an Islamic country--and a multiparty democracy was guaranteed.
It was in this background that in elections held Oct. 29, the opposition leader Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldives Democratic Party defeated Gayoom by securing 54.21% of the votes polled, in what was, by and large, a free and fair election. Nasheed has vowed to shun any desire for retribution and has promised to bury the hatchet. One hopes that for the welfare of his own people--and for a better future for the Indian Ocean's "Paradise Islands"--he will abide by his word.
G. Parthasarathy, India's former ambassador to Pakistan, is a retired career diplomat and currently a visiting professor at New Delhi's Center for Policy Research. He was the spokesman for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi during the Indian military intervention in the Maldives in 1988.
Courtesy:
| Next > |
|---|
