Vandalizing tombstones

The wanton destruction of historic tombstones in Hukuru Misky compound on Friday night is shocking beyond words. Who would want to vandalize these last vestiges of our glorious past, and why?

As usual the index of suspicion has been directed at drug addicts. But why on earth would they do a thing like this? They have absolutely no motive, unless of course someone paid them for it, which again raises the question as to who made the payment. From the scale of the destruction it is pretty obvious that this was no random mischief committed by intoxicated youngsters.

If the vandalism was preplanned, then who planned it? There is certainly no dearth of groups in the Maldives who believe tombstones must be destroyed. But as there are ongoing investigations, it may be out of place here to speculate about possible culprits.

Apart from a few mosque inscriptions and copper plates, tombstones in various parts of the Maldives are the only material evidence available on Maldivian history. The most important collections of tombstones are in Hukuru Misky and Koagannu in Meedhoo, Addu Atoll (see picture above). A large number of tombstones in Koagannu were vandalized in the recent past based on a superstition that if one breaks a tombstone one could commit Quran to memory.

Whoever did the destruction and whatever the reason, the act must be condemned in the strongest terms and the perpetrators brought to justice.

How to Stop the Drug Wars

On February 9, the world celebrated the first centenary of the first-ever international effort against drug control when, meeting in Shanghai, they agreed to set up the International Opium Commission. In 1998 the UN General Assembly committed member countries to achieving a "drug-free world" and to "eliminating or significantly reducing" the production of opium, cocaine and cannabis by 2008. Even as ministers from around the world are gathering in Vienna this week to set international drug policy for the next decade, the prestigious magazine Economist has written an op-ed highlighting the futility of this exercise (http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13237193&source=hptextfeature ).

The article heavily criticizes the promise politicians often make of 'eliminating' drugs, saying it is a hugely irresponsible promise, because it cannot be fulfilled. Criticizing policy makers, the article says, like first-world-war generals, many will claim that all that is needed is more of the same. In fact the war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalize drugs.

But as a 100% Islamic nation Maldives will never accept legalization. So, we shall fight drugs. "We shall go on to the end … we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets … we shall never surrender."*

Read the original article at:

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13237193&source=hptextfeature

[*The quotation is from the famous speech of Winston Churchill at the House of Commons on 4^th June 1940]

Giving a Boost to "Maldivian"

By Dhivehi Dhariyeh

Since the controversial demise of Air Maldives the country has been without a national airline in the international market. The issues surrounding the failure of Air Maldives have not had an independent analysis up to today; we need such an audit to learn lessons from the mistakes of the past.

To compensate for the failure of Air Maldives a new domestic airline was launched as Island Aviation. Through a steady growth strategy the company has expanded its fleet and operations successfully. The company currently has a fleet of 5 aircraft of which 4 are Bombardier Dash 8 family, composing of 2 Dash 8 Q300 (50 seat) and 2 Dash 8 Q200 (37 seat) aircrafts.

The company then took the bold step of venturing into the international market with its turboprop fleet much to the amusement of critics and competitors. With its dedication and effort it has overcome the odds and is successfully expanding its international operations including a rebranding of the airline division as Maldivian. The company's executive management and staff should be acknowledged for this progress and growth which was generated on its internal profitability and resources. The company has announced the next step in its growth by the delivery of a Dash 8 400 (75 seat) aircraft around early 2010. This looks to be a sound decision based on the fact that turboprops are more fuel efficient than jets and the Q400 matches the speed of a jet aircraft which used to be the main weakness of turboprops.

In light of the importance of having a suitable national airline the government needs to work out a solution to give a boost to the efforts of Maldivian. As such mainly two points are of importance now first increasing the capital of the company to speed up its expansion and putting in place an independent and capable strategic management body.

To increase the capital of the company the government should increase its share in the company and allocate a percentage of the company for interested private parties to invest in. For example let 4 private parties invest up to 10% share each, thereby giving a total investment of 40% to private parties while government holds 60% of the company. This seems to be the viable option since attracting an established foreign airline to a JV is slim due to the current economic conditions and the previous assessment of the feasibility by Qatar Airways.

With this increased capital the company should step up its expansion plans and look to acquiring an aircraft of greater capacity and range to allow it to serve feasible routes such as Bangkok, Malaysia and Dubai. An ideal aircraft for the purpose would be an Airbus A319 or similar type. Such an aircraft should be acquired in the short term, preferably somewhere in 2010. To aid this, the physical and human resources of the company should also be developed.

The company should also be appointed a professional and independent Board of Directors and ensure compliance with Corporate Governance Code even though it's not a public company. It should also be looked into the viability of bringing in a foreign CEO who's experienced in international airline operations. The government should reduce its dependence on the company's dividend (as with other SOE's) as a primary source of government revenue and let the company reinvestment a greater portion of its profits into its expansion.

[This article was submitted by Dhivehi Dhariyeh, a visitor to this site.]

Corrupting the Citizen

By Ahmed Afaal

On October 8, 2008 and on October 28, 2008 the Maldives underwent arguably the most democratic, the freest and the fairest elections in her entire history. This paves the new direction for future elections in the country.

Among the elections held in the country, the upcoming parliamentary election would be one that needs to be watched very carefully. In the past parliamentary elections have been influenced by money, and people with high governmental influence. Maldives went through a stage where the people were, in my words "made corrupt" by persuading them to accept money, goods and many other favours. This lead to a mass corruption where votes were given in return for something, i.e. votes were bought and many people still think that this perhaps is the norm.

Given this, during the last two parliamentary elections a large number of new faces came into both the Special Majlis and the Majlis. Their intentions were clear from what they have done so far. They have fought definitely on behalf of the people in a way that no previous parliament has ever done. They have passed the new constitution that is modern and people friendly. Many laws, most of them good and some with flaws while other laws contradicting each other were also passed.

No one in the country can deny that the current parliament's achievement in facilitating the democratic process, making the government more accountable, and the contributions to the special Majlis in the separation of powers is historic. The achievement of the outgoing Special Majlis in getting a new constitution needs mentioning.

Ironically, the sad truth though is, in order to bring this to the people, powerful business people and other influential people had to, in my words "further corrupt the citizens" by pumping more money and doing more favours to get votes. Votes were sold to the highest bidder last time around. Perhaps this was the only way that these members could have penetrated into the parliament.

Question now is that are the same parliamentarians going to come out this election and advocate that what they did was wrong? Would they come out clean?

Maldivians will definitely watch the actions of these people carefully. Especially these were the very people during the last presidential election, were most vocal and critical about this issue targeting it to the then ruling party's actions. Also, though we have a presidential system, parties will be fighting to get as many members in. Are there going to be totally new politicians who will defy the odds? Will there be those who have the courage to stand up to make the election clean? Would there be those who would and could educate and persuade the public to go on the right path? Only time will tell. We will have to hope that this endemic does not blow into an epidemic but rather get eradicated.

[*This analysis was presented by Ahmed Afaal, for the readers of this blog. He has his own blog (No politics) at http://afaal.blogspot.com/. As always I welcome contributions from the readers of this blog, which I will publish for the benefit of other readers and to keep this blog rich in content.]

Can the Anti Corruption Commission clean the Augean stables?

The Maldives' proposed new Anti Corruption Commission couldn't have come at a better time. The Corruption Perceptions Index 2008 released by Transparency International (TI) has just placed Maldives at the 115^th place among 180 countries, 31 places below its 84^th position last year. Can the Anti Corruption Commission turn the tide around?

The TI report comes as no surprise to ordinary Maldivians for whom it is a fact of life to see multistory buildings burgeoning around them –buildings belonging to government officials in strategic positions and senior executives of state owned companies. Such ostentation of wealth beyond all legitimate sources of income is glaringly visible to everyone except those responsible to stop it. While company after company from FPID to MNSL, and Air Maldives to Stelco and STO has been embroiled in scandal after scandal, no senior official of any of these companies have ever been held accountable. On the contrary they have got promotion after promotion ending in ministerial or diplomatic posts.

The new Anti Corruption Commission will replace the existing Anti Corruption Board, a totally discredited body. It is better known for harassing island katheebs who do not toe the line rather than any meaningful effort to stop corruption in high places.

Perhaps the Anti Corruption Commission will fare a little better, being part of an unprecedented wave of democratic reforms. A new Constitution was ratified on 7 August paving the way for multi-party elections. A Supreme Court, an Election Commission, and a Judicial Service Commission have been established.

Last week, the People's Majlis had a stormy debate on the Anti Corruption Commission Bill proposed by the Government. Members criticized the worsening corruption situation in the public sector. They expressed dismay about the lack of political will and intention on the part of the government to fight corruption. They pointed out that the government has swept several large scale corruption cases under the carpet.

The Majlis stressed the need to make the new Anti Corruption Commission powerful and independent enough to deal with the deteriorating situation. The proposed law will also give power to the Commission to investigate complaints involving members of People's Majlis (MPs) and NGOs.

Although there was some satisfaction about the new law, some MPs and ordinary citizens are still skeptical about the independence and effectiveness of the new Anti Corruption Commission in a background of increasing incidents of corruption involving high officials and politicians. The same concern was voiced regarding the Election Commission, Judicial Service Commission, and Supreme Court which they suspect have been manipulated for the benefit of the government and other political parties.

There are cases of corruption worth hundreds of millions of dollars involving high government officials and powerful politicians, which have been dropped without any action. The question is will the next president have the courage and political will to give the Anti Corruption Commission a free hand to clean the Augean stables and improve the bad image of the country as one of the most corrupt countries? The next few months will tell us.