21 August 2007

ON THE MALDIVES AND ITS PRESIDENT

On 19 August, The Maldivians were called, by a referendum to choice between a presidencial regime or a parliamentary one. Their president, Maumoon Gayoom (70 years old) was trongly supporting the first option. That the way he is leading his country for 29 years, been the most long time leader in Asia.

Since he became president in 1978, the second one after the establishing of Republic in 1968 when Ibrahim Nasir deposed the Sultan, three years after the full independance from the British, Gayoom leads his country
with an iron wist. His power was just threathened by a coup attempt involving Sri Lankan mercenaries but quickly repressed by an Indian military intervention.

For the foreigners, the Maldives, with their 1200 tiny coral islands, the most of them uninhabited, is the heaven for diving and sunning. They don't see the nature of the regime. They just could be obliged to leave at the airport the non-muslim religious symbols as statues of Bouddha they purchased in Sri Lanka, the first step of their trip. They don't see how the opposition has always been repressed.

However, The Maldives, and his 300,000 inhabitants is a moderate muslim country, during the first Irak war, in 1991, he belonged to the 30 countries coalition against Sadam Hussein and he authorised the US and
French military planes to refuel on his airport, a thing denied by the Sri Lankan gouvernement.

Here is the country profile of the Maldives http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1166511.stm

A short history of the Maldives http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1166518.stm

A 2003 profile of Maumoon Gayoom http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3140826.stm

Post edited by: Jacques, at: 2007/08/21 18:08<br><br>Post edited by: Jacques, at: 2007/08/21 18:14