3 January 2004
By Minivan News (From MDP News Letter)

The Maldives is currently facing the biggest national disaster in its history and Gayoom seems more focused on making political capital out of the tragedy than helping the victims of the disaster.

Gayoom’s task force is composed of his cabinet ministers and lackeys like Mundhood who runs the family’s unofficial hate website. Despite the fact that the bulk of the relief work is organized by and executed by private initiative, civil society leaders are excluded from the decision-making process. A more democratic, participatory process would threaten Gayoom’s autocratic, centralized system of organizing relief work would expose the corruption and blatant political exploitation that presently takes place.

Politics should be set aside, Maldives

The government seems happy enough to receive donations of money and material. It is even willing to admit receiving assistance from private Maldivian citizens. However, it is taking draconian steps to ensure that the people receiving the donations are under no illusion that they receive government largesse, gifts from Gayoom. The response from Atoll Chiefs and Island Chiefs interviewed by the government media makes this quite clear. Invariably the interviewer interviewees seem more concerned about singing the praise of Gayoom and extolling what they believe is the largesse of the government.

Some senior government officials – Minister Yameen, Kamaldeen and Gayoom’s secretary Abdulla Shahid among others – have unconscionably exploited the disaster to bolster their chances at the coming, now postponed parliamentary elections. While Yameen is trying to give the people of Noonu Atoll the impression that the relief they get is due to his intervention, others are happy to place their stickers or send their posters along with the aid. Meanwhile the government is actively discouraging civic initiatives by those who are wary of government intentions and hence wish to ensure that the donations they collect would not be used to meet political ends.

Both international and local donors need to be aware of government machinations. On its part the government needs to understand that what is at stake are the lives and wellbeing of thousands of its citizens. The government candidates and their supporters must desist from using the disaster as a parliamentary campaign. Donations must not be used as a leverage to influence or reward or punish voters.

On its part, the international donor community and those offering relief aid must bear in mind that the Gayoom regime has a long history of abuse of foreign aid with much of it expropriated by Gayoom’s senior officials and their cronies through a well established system of patronage. Donors need to be vigilant their charity reaches the intended needy through a transparent, accountable, effective and equitable process. Gayoom is deeply unpopular in the Maldives and seems to be intent on using this disaster to prop his fading image. Some parliamentary candidates close to him are already using the relief effort to promote their candidature. The present system of relief work employed by the government is neither effective nor inclusionary.