THE MAN FOR ALL ISLANDS
Ex - President of Maldives Gayoom (1978 / 2009)
Summoned by Presidential Commission on Corruption:




A visiting European Union Parliamentarian to Male mentioned, while referring to former President Gayoom that it would be better for him to remain as a respected Statesman like former Presidents of other countries. Though undiplomatic, what he said is essentially true.

Having remained as President for three decades with "unlimited power," Gayoom should have gracefully retired and remained as an elder statesman making himself available for consultations if required and more importantly remain above politics. It looks that he has ambitions to become president again and it is not a good sight for a person of his position to be addressing party rallies all over Maldives. If he has such ambitions to continue in politics then he will necessarily have to take the flak of all the mis doings of those cronies who enjoyed power and privilege (pillage?) during his time and will have to explain and be accountable. This is what has happened now.

President Nasheed soon after taking over saw to it that the outgoing president was given due respect, privileges and financial support. In the joint press conference soon after election, he requested Gayoom to be of help to them in governance. His approach as mentioned in our paper of 2919 of 10th November 2008 was one of forgiveness, respect and tolerance.

Nine months later what has gone wrong that on 12th July, the Presidential commission had formally summoned Gayoom to its office to probe into alleged embezzlement and corruption of state funds and resources? One could be the enormity of the embezzlement of the state funds and two, it could also be due to pressure from President Nasheed�s colleagues who were not happy with the way Gayoom having obtained all the privileges for a "former president" and yet going about criticising the government repeatedly on all issues in the party meetings. Many of them who are pressing for action were the ones who would have suffered most during Gayoom�s time.

One cannot forget the way Gayoom chased his predecessor Ibrahim Nasir and his family out of the country by slapping innumerable charges against him. Ibrahim Nasir is being remembered now on the independence day when he was able to have a smooth transfer of power on 26th July 1965. The problem of Gan base in Adu Atoll was also skillfully solved and the base is now under the sovereign control of the Maldives Government. But Gayoom will also certainly be remembered one day provided he gives up his ambitions now.

But the charges of corruption and diversion of Gayoom�s regime are serious. Instead of taking umbrage under the existing law that the Presidential commission has no powers to issue summons or warrants ( in fact the civil court has upheld this position), Gayoom should have cooperated with the commission to clear his name. A Police team had been to his house to record his statement. There are two versions as to what he said. One said that he signed to the effect that the "commission was not constitutionally empowered to summon people against their will." Another said that "it is not possible for me to answer the commission�s questions since I do not have any of the documents with me now�. He was also reported to have said that it is not certain that the documents are in tact!

DRP sources had also said that the sending of two peons to the former president to serve the summons has lowered the status of the President to that of an ordinary citizen. Hasn�t the former president brought on this situation on himself?

Empowerment of the Commission could be done separately as the civil court on the case filed by President�s brother has not questioned the legality of the commission itself but only its powers. The other way would be to take the "Police Route" of registering separate cases of corruption and defalcation of funds by the former President. This is what is happening and media reports indicate that on 26th July, the Maldives Police Services has formally asked the Prosecutor General Ahmad Muiz to prosecute Gayoom for refusing to attend the enquiry relating to embezzlement of state funds and resources.

The next step would be to with hold his passport and that will be more humiliating.

While there were many cases of diversion of sources and misuse over a period of time, the audit report of the government of 2007 particularly revealed waste, fraud and money laundering. The report according to the Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem showed widespread fraudulent practices by government officials who cooked books and fudged documents. There were serious instances of corruption on the supply side.

Further, the 2008 budget had an unacceptable deficit of Rf 4 billion and according to the Auditor General it was not a balanced one. He said that his warnings were not heeded and the current dollar shortage is directly related to the imbalanced budget. The former government is said to be directly responsible for the severe economic crisis the country is undergoing.

If only former President gives up his ambitions, remain above politics, let the law take its course against all those in his regime who had embezzled or misused funds and cooperate with the President�s Commission against corruption, it will be good for the country as a whole and the nation that has been nurtured by him for three decades will feel grateful to him.

India very special friend of reformists & MDP & President Mohamed Nasheed's Government



Let's know the SWOT before criticize INDIA-MALDIVES security knot.




M A L D I V E S

NOTE: The information regarding Maldives on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Maldives National Security information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Maldives National Security should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.

Military branches:	Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF): Quick Reaction Force, Security Protection Group, Coast Guard (2007)
Military service age and obligation:	18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2008)
Manpower available for military service:	males age 16-49: 89,505 females age 16-49: 85,745 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:	males age 16-49: 72,150 females age 16-49: 69,058 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:	male: 4,749 female: 4,084 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:	5.5% of GDP (2005 est.)
Military - note:	the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF), with its small size and with little serviceable equipment, is inadequate to prevent external aggression and is primarily tasked to reinforce the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and ensure security in the exclusive economic zone (2008)

I N D I A

Dr. Subhash Kapila

Introductory Observations

The Indian Republic in the first fifty years of its existence maintained a strategic autonomy in the conduct of its foreign policy despite a much more limited national power profile and economic profile than that exists today.

Today, when India is economically vibrant and strong and India has been able to amass sizeable conventional and strategic assets, India to its citizens seems strategically tied down in adding muscle to the conduct of its foreign policy.

Adding muscle to India�s foreign policy does not imply war mongering or military adventurism. Adding muscle to India�s foreign policy implies that India�s national security interests are accorded a paramountcy in the conduct of foreign policies to the exclusion of the personal predictions of the Indian Prime Minister and his proximate foreign policy advisors. It also implies the existence of political will to secure India�s national security interests.

GREATER INDIAN VISIBILITY IN ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD & India to take up digital mapping of Maldives

By V.Jayanth

MALE Sept. 23. India is to undertake digital mapping and hydrographic surveys of the Maldivian land mass and coastlines, besides assisting the Indian Ocean State in setting up an information technology village, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, announced here today.

Accepting a civic reception and a Key of Male here this evening, Mr. Vajpayee said a team from the Department of Space, Survey of India and the Indian Navy's Hydrographic unit would carry out the study and survey to help the Maldives map its future and estimate its potential in the fisheries sector. It could also help in its environment protection programme.

The Prime Minister said the Tata Consultancy would undertake a project to computerise the postal service network in the archipelago. This would be a model of Government-industry partnership that could be duplicated in other development areas.

Mr. Vajpayee, along with the Maldives President, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, participated in another function to lay the foundation stone for the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies here. Though started in 1987, the institute, functioning in a guest house, could not meet the growing needs of the tourism industry. With Indian help and expertise, this would function in a new building and double its capacity to 200 students per course.

Mr. Gayoom stressed on its significance to the Maldives, given its focus on tourism and the need to train young men and women in meeting its needs.

Briefing the media on the one-to-one talks between the two leaders and the delegation-level discussions, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Nirupama Rao, said the Maldives had sought Indian assistance in the "greening and development'' of the Hulhumale island, where about 50,000 people would be resettled over the next 25 years. Indian companies were invited to participate in the housing projects too.

She said the Maldives President was keen on signing a science and technology agreement with India. Accordingly, New Delhi would draft such an agreement and send it to Male for approval, before the two Governments could sign it.

In response to Mr. Gayoom's request for Indian expertise to set up what he called an `Internet village', the Maldives was asked to send a delegation to Hyderabad and Bangalore to see for itself the facilities and developments, so that it could give a concrete shape to its proposal. Similarly, India would also assist in the development of e-governance here, to link various Ministries and agencies.

Ms. Rao said the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Properties in Lucknow had restored the `Fenfushi' mosque in Male and had now been asked to take up a similar restoration of the `Dharumavantha Raasgefaanu' mosque, also in Male. (Mr. Vajpayee took credit for the laboratory being located in his parliamentary constituency)

As far as the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital here was concerned, the Government of India had agreed to set up another operation theatre, provide tele-medicine links with Indian health institutions and help develop it as a teaching institution. India would offer two additional seats in medicine to students from the Maldives, in addition to the present two.

As Mr. Gayoom noted in his banquet speech "An ocean brings our people together. In the past, the monsoon winds brought friends, merchandise and profit. Today, the airwaves and satellite signals exchange real time sounds and sights of both our cultures''.

The Maldives Home Minister, Ismail Shaffieeu, who presented the Key of Male to Mr. Vajpayee, later told Indian journalists that the ocean state was keen on expanding aviation ties with India — more flights to more cities, to bring more Indian tourists to the island resorts. At present, Indian Airlines operated services

only from Thiruvananthapuram and it was essential to provide flights out of New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

The snap decision India made to stop the attempted coup in the Maldives, on the heels of its Sri Lankan intervention last year, shows the scale of its ambitions in South Asia. India says it wants to preserve ‘regional stability’. This is the sort of phrase that is used on such occasions. Trouble in Maldives poses no threat to Indian security, of course; but Mr Rajiv Gandhi’s government does not like the idea of coups. The week’s events showed, impressively, that India has the means to impose its will.

The prime minister came to know of the coup attempt at 8.30 on the morning of November 3rd, when he received a telephone call from an aide of the Maldivian president, Mr Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The first transport aircraft, carrying 150 paratroops, landed in the Maldives less than 14 hours later, having flown, 1,700 miles from a base south of Delhi.

The United States, which had been in touch with Mr Gandhi, was happy for India to fix things in the Maldives. A similar view was taken by Russia and by Britain, the former colonial power, which used to have an air base on Gan, the southernmost island of the Maldives. Having Mr Reagan, Mr Gorbachev and Mrs Thatcher cheering him on must have bemused Mr Gandhi. It is a lot better than the accusations he hears from Sri Lanka.

The trouble in Sri Lanka, unlike that in the Maldives, does threaten Indian security. Ever since 1983, when the Tamil campaign for a separate state on the island began in earnest, India has wanted the Sri Lankan government to give the Tamils a generous measure of autonomy. It does not want to risk upsetting the 55 m Tamils who live in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which in the 1950s had a strong separatist movement, called the Dravida Kazhagam. Although this movement failed, one or other of its more legitimate offshoots, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All-India Anna DMK, has been ruling Tamil Nadu continuously since 1967.

The Maldives may accept India as a protective uncle.

Adam Rasheed Ahmed
wowmaldives@hotmail.com
wowmaldives@gmail.com