“If we have the present constitution and political parties, we are finished”

“If we have the present constitution and political parties, we are finished.” This is how Dr Munavvar was trying to stop the political party registration in Maldives when 42 people signed a request for forming a political party in 2001.

In 2001 Dr Munavvar was in the cabinet of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, serving the dictator as Attorney General. He was also the MP representing Addu Atoll but it is widely believed that in the parliamentary elections of 1994 and 1999 he was not elected by popular vote by Addu people, but handpicked by the regime because he was their loyal servant. Indeed, the two elections that Munavvar contested for a parliament seat were rigged elections and government used tactics of intimidation in Addu Atoll against the reform-minded candidates. In 1994 Ahmed Didi (Sandhaanu Ahmed Didi) or Mandela as he was known during that time, was imprisoned to prevent him from winning. Maldivian Rebels in the 4th issue of their underground magazine Maverick described how the election fraud is committed in the Maldives.

Ahmed Ibrahim Didi from Hulhudhoo island in Addu Atoll ran as a candidate for a seat of Addu Atoll. According to the first issue of Sandhaanu it was the popularity he received that prompted the regime to send him to Dhoonidhoo, a separate island prison. He was kept there till the election was over. It is not clear during which election this had happened but it could have been during the election of 1994 in which he received 1,789 votes and came fourth among 14 candidates. There were big shots contesting with him including the Attorney General Dr Mohamed Munawwar, who won a seat and came first in the election. Ironically, Ahmed Didi is now also in prison, this time for his involvement in the underground email newsletter Sandhaanu.

In the parliamentary elections of Maldives, Gayoom’s regime used tactics of repression to ensure that his cronies and cabinet ministers were elected. Dr Munavvar was appointed to the Cabinet in November 1993 as Attorney General. In 1994 in the first parliamentary election that he contested for a seat in Addu, all government resources were mobilised to elect the Attorney General Munavvar. This situation was repeated in the election of 1999.

As a member of parliament, Dr Munavvar lent his support to the dictatorial regime in the Maldives for ten years. This was the ten years he spent as the Attorney General prosecuting dissidents and people who raised their voices against Gayoom.

When the 42 people requested to form a political party, Gayoom tactfully sent the matter to the parliament where his loyalists including his appointed 8 members killed the attempt towards pluralism in Maldives. Dr Munavvar gave long speeches in the parliament against forming political parties in the Maldives.

In an interview with Washington Times, Gayoom said party system will endanger national unity.

Speaking of the incident, the President claims that it was endangering national unity. “The multi-party system,” he warns, “may lead to the division of the country.” He emphasizes that Parliament voted on the issue at his request, and denied it by 43 votes to five. “People decided it was not the right time yet to have political parties,” he says.

Gayoom’s ally in preventing the formation of political parties in the Maldives was Dr Munavvar who gave the now famous legal advice to the dictator that political parties were not possible under the current constitution. In reality, Gayoom needed a good excuse or justification to stop the attempt to form political parties and Dr Munavvar happily produced the justification. Munavvar said reform and change is possible without a party system.

Attorney General Munavvar, also a Member of Parliament, claims that a multi-party system would necessitate a constitutional amendment. “The Electoral Commission must be independent, and so must the Elections Commissioner – in such a system one must ensure that they can only be appointed with the consent of Parliament.” He says change is possible with the present system: “If we have the present constitution and political parties, we are finished: a party is never going to agree to change the constitution. Right now, it can happen.”

Dr Munavvar’s justification was in reality as absurd as the reasons Ilyas Ibrahim gave about why political parties should not be formed in the Maldives. He said Maldivians were not mature enough for political discussions such as formation of political parties.

While not forbidden by law, the President officially discourages political parties on the grounds that they are inappropriate to the homogeneous nature of society. Minister of Transport Ilyas Ibrahim, speaking in his capacity as a Member of Parliament, a post he has held since 1975, agrees. He says that the competitive advantage of a multi-party democracy in the Maldives cannot be immediately realized because of the characteristics of the nation: its size, and its people’s inexperience in political debate. “We are not mature enough to have this kind of discussion,” he says.

The fact of the matter is Maldivian people were not even asked if they wanted political parties. There was no referendum on the issue and the parliament comprised of mainly Gayoom’s stooges such as Dr Munavvar. Maldivian Rebels, in their fifth issue of underground magazine Maverick, explained the circumstances of 2001.

Approximately 40 people, including some senior civil servants, signed an application to form a political party. There were talks with Ministry of Home Affairs, Housing and Environment, the ministry which approved the formation of clubs and NGOs and such bodies. There was no law forbidding the formation of political parties even though a party had been formed only once in 1950s. Of course several things, including the electoral process, would have to be changed to accommodate political parties. President Gayyoom sent the matter to the parliament where the proposal to form a party was effectively killed. The President was very cunning in his move; he could say it was not the government but the elected representatives of the people who rejected the idea.

In a country as autocratic as Maldives and led by a President who dominates everything, it is not hard to imagine on whose orders the parliament would have acted.

Ironically, the person who vocally argued against forming political parties is today the President of MDP, a party formed under the current constitution, the same party that applied for registration and failed in 2001. Now Dr Munavvar has set his eyes on becoming the President of Maldives with an MDP ticket. He makes some people believe that he is a champion of democracy and pluralism. In reality, he is a corrupt politician and should never be elected for a public office in Maldives again. Because of Dr Munavvar, the road to pluralism in Maldives was turbulent and it was only in 2005 that political parties were at last formed in the Maldives, thanks to the sacrifices of reformist activists in the Maldives.

Reference

Maverick, the magazine of Maldivian Rebels, Issues 4 published July 2003
Maverick, the magazine of Maldivian Rebels, Issues 5 published 21 January 2005
http://www.do2004.com/DO/Maverick_Resist.htm
http://www.maldivesculture.com/news/maldives_maverick_index.htm

“The question of democracy” Washington Times article on Maldives 2002

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