MALDIVES: President Nasheed Makes an Impressive Debut in New York

MALDIVES: President Nasheed Makes an Impressive Debut in New York

By Dr. S. Chandrasekharan

As one of the few countries that will be most adversely affected by Global Warming, President Nasheed in his address in the UN Summit on global warming in New York, made an impressive speech that urged international action against global warming rather than just making empty pledges.

He called on the developed countries to acknowledge their historic responsibility for global warming and accept emission reduction standards that would accept an average increase of not more than 1.5 degree Celsius.

In an apparent reference to China and India which I am glad he did, he said- “I would argue that the threat posed by climate change is so acute, the science so clear, the solution so apparent and the cost-benefit analysis of action made so alarming that such horse trading and brinkmanship must be left in the past. ( The Chinese have only promised to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by a “notable margin.”)

President Nasheed was able to carry the AOSIS ( Alliance of Small Island States) with him to insist on a cap of an increase of global temperature by 1.5 degrees only, although earlier a figure of 2 degrees Celsius was being talked about.

For a solution to the Climate change he made three suggestions.

One: Developed Countries accepting a binding emission target consistent with a temperature rise of not more than 1.5 degree Celsius.

Two: Developing Countries ( again a reference to India and China) to accept binding emission reduction to targets under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.

Three: Developed Countries to provide additional and predictable adaptation finance.

In the UN General Assembly:

In his address to the UN General Assembly, he thanked the international community for their support for the democratic transition in Maldives. In the fitness of things, he as a person of integrity and honesty could have given some credit to former president Gayoom for the smooth transition to democracy and the change of regime. In an opinion poll conducted recently, 50 percent of those polled (5500 persons) felt that Nasheed was responsible for bringing in democracy in Maldives, while 48 percent (5280) polled felt that Gayoom was responsible. The polling results were very close and it has to be accepted though one may not like it that Gayoom is still a figure to be reckoned with in Maldives.

He requested for assistance on three key areas-

One: In democratic consolidation. To say that democracy was ushered into Maldives due to international pressure is incorrect. It was the internal pressure led by none other than the present President Mohamed Nasheed himself that made former President Gayoom to relent.

Two: Meeting the economic challenges facing the country. There is some good news for the country that the tourism arrivals have increased slightly compared to last year and the inflation rate is falling.

Three: Taking urgent and effective action to tackle global climatic changes.

He revealed to the General Assembly that his country is seeking to revive its relations with Israel while at the same time he expressed his support for an independent and sovereign Palestinian homeland. He called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma. His abhorrence of terrorism in all its forms was mentioned.

He ended his speech in reference to the climatic change and the coming Copenhagen summit, by saying that if one wants to save the world, saving Maldives will be a good starting point.

In all, President Nasheed’s debut in the UN was an impressive one. He was also able to strike a sympathetic chord amongst the international community of the problems and challenges faced by his small country.

Back home after a tumultuous welcome, President Nasheed realised that the opposition DRP had virtually declared a war against his government. The government’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Israel came under severe criticism. The Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed tried to justify the decision, that the donor countries like Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were consulted before the decision was taken. It looks that the decision to renew ties with Israel was taken not on political grounds but for economic reasons. For Israel, it is another achievement in getting one more Muslim country to establish diplomatic relations with it.

Similarly, the President’s decision to reduce the salaries and allowances of civil servants was also objected to severely by the opposition. President Nasheed promised that the cuts will be restored once the economy improves but this was not acceptable. A group of MPS - seven from DRP and PA and one of IDP (its leader Umar Naseer) filed a petition before the Civil Service Commission to reject the government’s efforts to lay off civil servants or to reduce their pay and allowances. Even the Human Rights Commission of Maldives joined the chorus in calling on the government not to reduce the allowances. This showed the clout the bureaucracy had even in a small country like Maldives.

President Nasheed revealed that the civil servants in the country numbered 32,000, about 12 percent of the total population which is very high. He maintained that he would reduce the number by half before 2011.

The same group of MPs journeyed to Colombo to hold a press conference on 27^th September on the subject “Where are we heading?”. The group’s chief spokesman was none other than the very articulate Mohammed Hussein Shareef (Mundhu) who was the press officer to the President during Gayoom’s regime. They criticised the government on its intention of establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, economic and financial mismanagement and of the government’s proposed action to a cut of about 20 percent of salaries and allowances of civil servants.. Only about ten persons from the media were present. This group intends to visit Europe, USA and China to continue their campaign. One wonders where they get the money from to make such global tours when the poor President had to depend on other countries to attend the global summit on climate change in New York and Copenhagen?

There was another setback waiting for President Nasheed. The DQM ( Dhivehi Qauvmee Party) led by former Attorney General Dr. Hassan Saeed withdrew its support to the government. It may be recalled that Dr. Hassan Saeed along with the current foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed and Dr. Mohammed Jameel currently Minister for Civil Aviation and communications started the party and whole heartedly supported President Nasheed in the run off to the second round of Presidential elections.

The differences that have been simmering for the past few months came out into the open with Dr. Hassan Saeed openly calling for the resignation of the Finance Minister for his poor performance. This happened on 29^th September. Two days later, Dr. Jameel declared that his party is withdrawing from the coalition. The grounds mentioned were

* They were disappointed with the irresponsible behaviour of the MDP.

* The Government has no respect for others and there have been no consultations with the partners.

* The President has forgotten all his commitments and the government is also not sincere.

With the exit of DQM from the government, the Foreign minister had no choice but to leave the DQM and join the ruling party- the MDP. He said that it is time to reinforce the government and time to reassess “where we all stand.”

The Foreign Minister had come in for criticism both on the issue of renewing diplomatic ties with Israel and also for pushing for military ties with India. In fact, the opposition is planning to move a “no confidence” motion against him in the parliament soon.

Though the opposition has declared that the government will be toppled in three months, it looks that President Nasheed and his government will survive. His government’s priority should continue to be-to get the country out of the economic difficulties that the country is facing partly due to profligate policies of his predecessor’s regime.