Abdullah Nafiz of Meedhoo Passes Away

Abdullah Nafiz, a leading Meedhoo and Addu political figure during the 1950s and 60s, passed away on Monday morning at Male. Nafiz was 92 years of age and is survived by a wife, 3 sons and 6 daughters.

Born to an intellectual family of Meedhoo in 1916, Nafiz’s father was Dheshenaagey Ahmed Manik, son of Chief Justice Ibrahim Majduddeen. Nafiz entered public life at a very young age under the auspices of his elder brothers Mohammed Fenna Manikufaanu and Dheshenaagey Ibrahim Didi, and was in charge of the community businesses in Meedhoo.

Later, during the time of the breakaway republic, United Suvadive, Nafiz was elected to the Suvadive Parliament. [The historic photo above shows Nafiz (standing) speaking in the parliament. On his left are Mudim Thakhan from Hulhudu, Kalhaage Ali Manika from Hittadu and Gaduvaru Moosa Didi from Hittadu. This meeting was chaired by President Afif Didi. To the President's right are Kateeb Don Raha of Fedu, Eedhigalige Hussain Manikfan, Beyruge Afif and Mohammed Saeed of Hittadu.]

Intelligent, witty and flamboyant, Nafiz was perhaps the last of the traditional great leaders of Meedhoo. He provided visionary leadership to Meedhoo for 3 decades till his retirement as Island Chief of Meedhoo in the early 1980s.

A successful family man, Nafiz raised a family of educated sons and daughters who have made names for themselves in a wide variety of fields. They include Mohamed Farouk, well know author and former Deputy Minister of Atoll Administration and Abdul Rasheed, former Member of the Majlis. Nafiz was also father in law of Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed.

We pray to Almighty Allah to bestow on him the bliss of Paradise.

Reflections on Electoral Constituency Allocation

Some electoral constituencies are more equal than others. The Election Commission's interim report on delineating electoral constituencies shows that the sizes of individual constituencies vary widely from a low of 1079 population in Vaavu Keyodhoo to a high of 6065 population in Hulhudoo-Meedhoo. Thus a person in Keyodhoo has nearly 6 times more say in the Majlis election than a voter in Meedhoo.

Actually 2 atolls of the Maldives (Vaavu and Faafu) have less population than Hulhudoo-Meedhoo and two other atolls (Alifu Alifu and Meemu) have nearly equal populations. However, these 4 atolls will all be sending 2 members each to the Majlis, while Hulhudoo-Meedhoo will be sending just one member.

This discrepancy cannot be fully blamed on the Election Commission because it has to work within the limits set by the Constitution. The Constitution allots 2 members to each of what it calls 'administrative zones.' If the population of an administrative zone exceeds 5000, then one extra member is allotted for each additional 5000. It is this 2-tiering of constituencies and administrative zones that is partially responsible for the problem. However the relevant law does give the Election Commission some leeway in reducing discrepancies. In the case of Hulhudoo-Meedhoo the Commission has decided to make it a single constituency to "maintain social harmony."

Inter-constituency differences are not the only problem with the allocation of Majlis seats. The total of 77 members is also a cause for concern. It is about 50% more than the outgoing Majlis. Many citizens question whether such a high number of expensive members are needed for a population of just 300,000.

[Note: Meedhoo is one among the author's 3 home islands, the other 2 being Male and Kulhudhuffushi]