Mohamed Nasheed, Maldives’ first democratically elected President who was ousted from power two months ago in a development that he has called a “coup”, is arriving here on Tuesday as part of his international canvassing for an early election. In a fair poll he expects he would unseat Mohammed Waheed Hassan, his vice-president who took over the presidency after his displacement.
But there is a problem. In order to have the Maldivian presidential election before it is due in October 2013, the country’s Constitution needs to be changed. It is hard to see why Mr Nasheed, a former social activist, should push for such a course when no cataclysmic event has come to pass since his removal from power.
Constitutional order is being maintained. The Islamists, or the military, have not seized power. Male is meeting its international obligations.
These were some of the fears troubling countries like India and the United States since the Maldives is strategically located to the southwest of the southern tip of India in the Indian Ocean, a region in which the Somali pirates make forays and religious Islamic parties, or their proxies, in neighbouring Islamic countries are eager to spread their influence internationally.
The President who succeeded Mr Naheed called for a unity government until the next election but the Maldivian National Party, created by the former President, was lukewarm to Mr Waheed’s idea. An all-party government would have been a via media acceptable to all sides.
Apparently Mr Nasheed is in a rush to return to the driver’s seat, although the social and political dynamics in his country do not appear to be on his side at the moment.
One false move is all it takes to change the plot sometimes. This happened to Mr Nasheed when he ruled his country. He made an anti-democratic move against a judge he accused of favouring the Opposition, and that led to events leading to his resignation last February.
In a show of pique last month, MDP activists did not permit the new President to enter Parliament. The impression is that the former activist’s party is trying to make it difficult for the political system to run.
This is unfortunate. The armed forces or extreme political tendencies usually seek an opportunity to step into the breach when normal politics and administration are not permitted to move. The growth of Islamist tendencies in the Maldives is undeniable, and it needs sensitive handling to check a political current. The politics of bulldozing in the name of democracy can conceivably produce a backlash.
The former President has already visited Sri Lanka and the United States as part of his campaign. The current Maldives President is slated to be here in May to seek support for his government and to urge India to find a way out of the current political impasse. New Delhi should emphasise the importance of maintaining constitutional order by both sides and to enlarge the political canvas in the Maldives by including the MDP in the ruling bloc.