Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Inheriting a White Elephant?



Farooq Mohamed Hassan*


The out-going President, Al-ustaaz Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, will soon be a 'chapter closed' in our country's long and often times turbulent history. His 30-year rule will be written and re-written for years to come. His 'legacy' – as he loves to call it – will be studied and researched by scholars for generations to come. They will be recorded and preserved in various formats. And most certainly, some of his memorabilia – symbols of extravagance – will find its way to the new national museum which is now being built by the Chinese Government. After all, where else can such subjects of notoriety be displayed as objects of beauty? On a happier note, many of these collections will surely attract more tourists to the capital – Male'. Unfortunately, some like the priceless yacht may go under the hammer.


This reminds me of my visit to Manila/ Philippines to attend the Fourth Global Forum of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council in 1997. One of the places we were taken to was the Malacanang Museum which gave us a glimpse of the excesses of the ousted former president and strongman of Philippines – Ferdinand Emmanuel EdralĂ­n Marcos and his family.


Why I have mentioned Marcos is because of the stark similarities that exist between these two dictators. First, they were elected Presidents; Marcos in 1966 and Maumoon in 1978. Second, their respective governments were marred by despotism, nepotism, political repression, human rights violations and massive authoritative government corruption. Third, while Marcos was removed from power by the 'People Power Revolution', Maumoon was removed from power by the MDP led coalition, in a public referendum in which Maumoon contested against the will of the majority, and also against the spirit of the new constitution, which Maumoon himself ratified. Marcos ruled Philippines for 20 years while Maumoon ruled Maldives for 30 years.


Oh yes! Coming back to my topic – inheriting the white elephant, will most certainly raise a few eyebrows among some of the radical DRP sympathizers. And why not? But let's continue.


A literature review of the term 'White Elephant' shows that it is derived from Thailand, where an Albino (white) elephant was given to unfavoured people by the ruler. Because these elephants were sacred and not permitted to work, it was a burden to the owner as it would eat up the owner's entire money until he/she became destitute. Keeping a white elephant therefore, was a very expensive undertaking, since the owner had to provide the elephant with special food and provide access for people who wanted to worship it. It is said that if a Thai King became dissatisfied with a subordinate, he would give him a white elephant. The gift would, in most cases, ruin the recipient. Today, the term 'white elephant' is commonly used in the context of 'a burdensome possession - creating more trouble than it is worth', or 'a possession that is unwanted by its owner', or 'a valuable possession whose upkeep is excessively expensive', or 'a useless and troublesome possession that one cannot easily get rid of'. The usage is infinite.


Now, here's the catch. Following the October 28 election, the winners gave a sigh of relief, hoping that they had got rid of a dictator, who not only cost the public a fortune to maintain, but also ruined the economy of our country. And so, many hoped that in the light of the recently released reports by the Auditor General, not to name the FPID, MSL, ATC and Air Maldives scandals, at least some justice will be done. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to me that so many raised their eyebrows when the President-elect, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni) proposed to give the out-going President, a reasonable pension and protection. Anni repeated this same request when he met with the Speaker of the Majlis, Honorable Mohamed Shihab.


I am sure no person with a sound mind will deny the merits of reconciliation over retribution. And so, when Anni asked the Speaker of the Majlis to do the needful to introduce a Bill to that effect as soon as possible, I, for one, was quite happy that the speaker answered in the affirmative. However, then came the biggest surprise of all. Within days, Maumoon himself, through his Minister, Aneesa, hurried to submit such a Bill. And what does this bill contain? No one yet knows for sure. However, according to one local newspaper, the Bill Aneesa has submitted to the Majlis, if passed, will require giving Maumoon the same salary as that of the President of the country, which is MRf 75,000.00 a month, a 'reasonable' house to live, an office with minimum staff and funds for research. How much will all this cost to the public?


Unfortunately, only the outcome of the Bill introduced by Maumoon through his Minister, Aneesa, will determine how much of a liability than an asset the Maldivian 'white elephant' would be to the public. And let's hope Anni, like the Thai king, is not giving the very public that elected him to his Office, a 'white elephant'.




[*Faarooq Mohamed Hassan is a former shadow cabinet member of MDP and is also the Deputy Director General of the Environment Research Center.]

21 comments:

Simon said...

Mr. Farooq should create his own blog.

Anonymous said...

Can you provide a detailed list of people who helped Marcos to be the dictator he was and the list of people that enabled Maumoonu to be the 'dictator' he was.I bet you wont.

Anonymous said...

Let there be a museum where audio clips of Zaki praising Maumoonu sould be available for the public

Anonymous said...

No wonder why Mr.farooq is pouring all sorts of infernal views into media out of infatuation for MDP.afterall he was a shadow cabinet member,awaiting to be offererd a very high profile portfolio.But,I guess, Anni and his team know very well who this chap is. A man talks more and does nothing. It was the main reason why he has been transferred from office to office during previous regime while his colleagues like dr. muhusin were performing well. his concern for the country is only a pose.Ones own family life is a good indicater of how clean a person is? people who have dealt with farooq will prove how clean he is? well, if maumoon was a dictator, who made him so, as posed by one of the anonymous who commented before me? He was not a dictator before 2003, i assume.didn`t Dr. shaheed gave an interview to BBC saying that he is the father of democracy? didn`t hassan saeed, very recently, just after the formastion of political parties, said that maumoon is the only person who can save this ship? didn`t adil saleem praise maumoon on fisherman`s day 2007 about the progress made by maumoon to fiheries sector? this list could be very lengthy indeed.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous [November 4,2008,7:08PM]
I wonder what you would say to the following article which has appeared in the local newspaper 'Miadhu. Here's the link: http://www.miadhu.com.mv/div/news.php?id=14464.
Cheers!

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous November 4, 2008 7:08 PM.
very true and Anni was the one straight. Rest all (not all) but the prominent figures in coaliation as well are power hunger two minded ppl.

Anonymous said...

great article. please keep giving us good articles.

Anonymous said...

heheh... Very cool article.Really enjoyed reading. I don't think that reader has to prove whether Maumoon was a dictator o not. Lot of article we hve read so far on that subject. But i would luv to see Qayyoom being treated well under new government. Atleast for the history its good to write these kind of article. So our next generation could have a glance on that and will be able to know how Qayyoom was described by Maldivians at the time of his fall.

Anonymous said...

Experts of English language have to coin new terms to describe the various realities of Maldives politics.Voting to oust a dictator is an oxymoron

Anonymous said...

To anonymous 8.50Pm,
You are deliberately creating an artificial oxymoron by compressing the time line of Gayoom's rule. the truth is he was a brutal dictator till 2003. Then he lost those powers in the last 5 years following the jail shootings. He would again have regained his old dictatorial style if he won this election. Temporary eclipse of dictatorial power is nothing new. Read what happened to Chairman Mao after the Cultural Revolution and how he regained power.

Anonymous said...

If he was a brutual dictator Sikka Ahmed Ismail,Kerafaa Naseem et al wont be living alive today

Anonymous said...

"Atleast for the history its good to write these kind of article. So our next generation could have a glance on that and will be able to know how Qayyoom was described by Maldivians at the time of his fall..."

The hypocrisy of Zaki and Afeef is also important

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 8.50pm and 9.29 pm,
All methods of removing dictators other than military force and natural death may be considered as oxymoron. After all, how can one force a real dictator to resign? How can such a person lose an election? But there are many examples of such oxymoron:

General H.M. Irushad (Bangladesh) –defeated in election;

King Gyanendra (Nepal) –constitutionally removed;

Salazar (Portugal) –resigned;

Tan Shwe (Myanmar) –lost election but holds to power militarily;

Suharto (Indonesia) –resigned.

Mugabe (Zimbabwe) –lost election but holds to power with help of security forces;

Daniel Arap Moi (Kenya) –constitutionally barred;

Eric Honecker (East Germany) –Resigned;

Yahya Khan (Pakistan) –Resigned;

Anonymous said...

Farooq's father was made a Kaleyfaan by Gayoom. Kalyfaaan was one of Gayoom's henchman.

Anonymous said...

mr farooq. What is the white elephant here. and who is inheriting it. i cudn't follow.Is Anni inheriting Maumoon.Is Maumoon to be Anni's expensive to maintain slave?

Anonymous said...

what about the hordes of white elephants in the majlis?Does their extravagant salaries and other amneties justify their often unproductive output? In addition to this most of them are notorious for their poor attendance and lack of any worthwhile idea on important national issues but offcoarse can set good examples on how not to behave in a parliament.Wish most of them too go into the dustbin of history after the next elections to the Majlis,

Anonymous said...

And where else in the world other than Maldives can a political party announce the date of coup operation in advance? Remember the event when MDP supporters travelled by sea to Male to stage a coup

Experts of epistemology have to invent a new term to this type of coup

Anonymous said...

Mere 54 percent vote is a pathetic value

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous [November 7, 2008 2:53 PM]. I more or less agree with you on his. But, how can you equate a crime committed by an individual with crimes committed by a head of state?

Anonymous said...

To Anonymous [November 7, 2008 2:53 PM]. I more or less agree with you on his. But, how can you equate a crime committed by an individual with crimes committed by a head of state?

To Anonymous [November 4, 2008 7:08PM]. Farooq is not the only victim of transfers by Maumoon. Take for example, Ismail Shafeeu, Abdullah Hameed, Zahir Hussain, AbdulRasheed Hussain, Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, Ahmed Zahir (Seena)and Mahmood Shaugee, Ahmed Abdullah, just to name a few.

Anonymous said...

I beleive that mr farrog can go to hell.the problem with faroog is that he was not elected as a minsiter of ganja force so trying to convince ganja that faroog is capable.but i guess a short and fat devil fits on in hell.