This Wednesday evening, 23 April 2008, state owned Television Maldives (TVM), is due to telecast the debate between the three presidential primary contenders of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). It's a first.
MDP is the first party to hold a primary of this kind, to elect a candidate to participate in the first ever direct presidential election, expected to take place in October this year. MDP's candidates are the current president of the party, Dr. Mohamed Munavvar, former chairperson and founding member Mr. Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) and Mr. Reeko Moosa Manik, Member of Parliament. This historic debate is organised by DhiFM and will be broadcast on their station as well, from 2130 to 2300 hrs. To cover the cost, organisers will be selling 200 tickets to the public but around 400 invited guests will attend the debate including leaders of political parties.
Rewind your memories to the last presidential elections in the Maldives and you will believe that it was nothing but a stage managed event. A presidential nominee is chosen by the 50 members in the parliament, out of whom 8 are directly appointed by the incumbent president. Furthermore, out of the remaining 42 members, the vast majority were cronies of the regime, which included his family members. Dissent within the parliament at the time was not tolerated by the regime and that guaranteed the nomination of Dictator Gayyoom. In fact, he got a clean sweep, all 50 members voted for him. This is followed by a public referendum, whereby he is to secure a 51% majority. What is incomprehensible was that no one was allowed to conduct a 'No' campaign, in fact, it was seen as an illegal act. State funds and resources were used to promote the Dictator and the business elite had to put in their efforts as well. On top of all that, the Dictator and his cronies had in place the perfect mechanism to rig the vote, as in previous referendums. A group of retired politicians from the SAARC were invited to oversee the ballot but spent more time sunbathing and relaxing in Kurumba Village Resort than on the ground monitoring the ballot process.
Fast-forward 4 ½ years and everything has changed. We are about to witness the first ever multiparty elections in the Maldives over the next 12 months; Direct presidential elections in October this year and parliamentary elections in March 2009. Candidates are openly campaigning and trying to muster support in rural islands as well as in the capitals. Furthermore, political parties are electing their own candidates to challenge the Dictator and there is also the talk of a national unity alliance, which will consolidate all the votes against Gayyoom and could be key to ousting him from power.
The democracy and human rights campaign that began at the end of the 2003 is definitely paying off. It is now time for the people of Maldives to make an informed choice and decide who should be granted the task of looking after their affairs. If we fail to do it this time, there is no one that we can blame but ourselves.
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