New Delhi
21 September 2006
The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) will resort to civil
disobedience if President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom did not advance the elections from
its scheduled date of October 2008 to mid-2007, MDP Founder Mohammed Latheef has
told reporters.
"For 28 years, there has only been one name on the ballot paper in the Maldives.
Maldivians will not wait another two years for that to change. Holding of free and fair
elctions before the scheduled date of October 2008 remains the fundamental issue for
establishing a genuine democracy in Maldives," Latheef said at a news conference held
at the Foreign Correspondents Club.
Latheef, who was flanked by Mohamed Shihab and Mariya Didi, said the MDP would be
compelled to resort to civil disobedience and political defiance if their minimum demand
of an early election was not conceded. "If Mahatma Gandhi could bring down the British
rule with civil disobedience, surely we can with a little imagination bring down a dictator
like Gayoom," he said when asked what he meant by civil disobedience. Mohamed
Shihab, in turn, suggested that the MDP could take recourse to "other means" as well if
President Gayoom did not budge. He would not elaborate what those means could be.
Latheef said the time has come for India to show its "robust involvement" in the
Maldivians' quest for democracy. "Britain is a credible facilitator but we, as a member of
SAARC, would like to see a robust Indian involvement in the long run. We would be a lot
more comfortable if at some stage India was involved," he said.
"We are frankly disappointed," Latheef said when asked about India's role so far. "Over
eight per cent of Maldives GDP is spent on defence, which is a euphemism to keep one
man in power, and India is contributing to that. One one hand, India says it would not
interfere in the internal affairs of another country and on the other, it donates arms to the
Gayoom government. We would welcome Indian aid other than military," he observed.
Latheef indicated that the MDP would want to enter into "formal collaboration" with the
Maldivian Government now that MDP Chairperson Mohamed Nasheed has been
released. He said Male could be the venue of these talks but he insisted that the
negotiations should be conducted in the presence of the international community. "[Male]
is quite OK with us ... we have no problem," Latheef said in response to a question.
The MDP has been holding informal talks with the government of Maldives, being
facilitated by the British High Commissioner in Colombo. Four rounds of talks have been
held in Colombo in the last few months.
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