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Point of view

Failure to understand a people
By Ahmed Asif
Members of the People's Majlis, the Maldivian Parliament, have delivered a slap to Amnesty International by voting 50 to nothing in favour of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as their official candidate to face a referendum of the people.
The context and the result are highly significant and merit some analysis especially in reference to the insinuations and allegations made recently by Amnesty International (AI).

The fact that a serving leader might with good grace and the blessings of his people face and win consecutive terms on an open and fair ballot is a phenomenon that Amnesty cannot clearly comprehend. For the people at AI, this means that sinister and dark forces have to be orchestrating the result. They cannot visualize an honest and decent leader who is not corrupted and debased by long association with power.

'Endemic human rights violations', 'blatant abuse', 'systematic repression' and 'endemic torture' was the verdict on the Maldivian Government made by Amnesty.
There was just one thing wrong. The members of the Maldivian Parliament decided that the judgment was flawed and voted unanimously for the current President. Let us examine briefly the setting for the vote lest AI allege the vote was somehow rigged.
Members of Parliament were called on and went one by one to receive unmarked papers on which they wrote within a secluded area the name of the one candidate whom they wished to be offered for the public referendum.

Members could have written the name of any of the four candidates. Members could have if they had so wanted excused themselves from the voting session. Or if that could have been too conspicuous they could have at least cast a protest vote by voting for any of the other candidates or casting an empty ballot. Any one or a combination of the above, if it had happened would have given some semblance of credibility to AI's allegations. However, this was not the case.

This goes to prove that AI has no idea of the dynamics that represent the Maldivian way of life and the currents and waves that shape our political system.
I believe AI should at least admit that they had got it wrong.

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