Now that the excitement of the "cabinet announcement" is over and the new presidential term just a day away; what should be the top priority for the MDP-Alliance?
It certainly has to be uniting for change.
'Unite for Change' is perhaps one of the most successful politically motivated PR campaigns we have had in the Maldives (and some might say even in the world!). It energized and engaged, amongst others, moderate youth in a way that politicians have not been able to do before. It gave them a voice and an opportunity to be heard about issues that were close to their heart. One of the reasons for the success of the campaign was the diverse mix of people involved; women, men, girls, boys, young, old... Those who supported one candidate or the other, those who were liberal or a bit conservative in nature. Artists, Intellects, professionals and students, the list goes on.
Now it is time for the MDP-alliance to learn from the 'unite for change' movement. As you might have noted from in my earlier posts, I am a skeptic of coalitions. However, for this country to move on and for the government to be able to fulfill the campaign promises, they must now unite for change.
True, there are vast differences between some of the alliance members. If they plan to be stubborn then they should not have joined the coalition, as a coalition by nature would require compromise. I sure hope that this is the case.
More importantly, we as the people should unite for change. Society has to an extent been fragmented with different ideas during a long and hard fought election. Now that it is over, we should try to set our differences aside. Paying heed to what Obama said to his nation, we are not 'yellow islands or blue islands', we are Maldivians. We are one and we have to unite for change to take our country forward and to realize the dreams we have for our nation, for us and our children.
On another note, I just got a call from a friend pointing me towards this article. I thought it was a very interesting read. Have a look.
'Maldives seeks to buy a new homeland"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/10/maldives-climate-change
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5 comments:
Enjoying the Blog Shahdy.
Interesting to see how this coalition would play out.
It will also be interesting to see how the government can really come up with an 'apolotical' civil service that answers to the political appointees and objectively responds to the politicians....
The interesting thing would be a Yes Minister type situation where Ministers are rotated like on a roller-coaster, and the civil servant / First Secretary (or whoever is there)will then come to actually control the reigns of power.
Interesting times no doubt...
Zal
It will be interesting to see how the coalition moves forward beyond the election & beyond ´uniting for changing Maumoon´, and see how they come together on their different agendas...
I read recently that the new Government has pledged to be more business friendly, which is always good news, but I am a bit skeptical about the land ownership proposition. Especially after I read the article from Guardian which says `The Maldives will begin to divert a portion of the country's billion-dollar annual tourist revenue into buying a new homeland - as an insurance policy against climate change that threatens to turn the 300,000 islanders into environmental refugees, the country's first democratically elected president has told the Guardian´.
Are we planning to give land ownership titles to the wealthy & move the rest under this insurance policy as suggested by the new President elect?
It would be interesting to see your views on this Shahdy..
Zal: Yes, I think the role of the civil service has been somewhat relegated in the past and this is probably a good opportunity for it to 'take its place'.
Anonymous: I am also not too sure about the freehold issue. With the 'extremely limited' land space we have, perhaps a longer lease would be a better option. I doubt whether the public would buy such a policy and even with an 'alliance' majority, it might not be as easy as one might think to push it through parliament (especially with the general public listening/tuning in to see what their MPs are talking about)
Will the general public go on listening to their MPs or are the going to relax again...Last i heard the majlis was shown late into the night when most of the population were asleep.
Well, it used to be that Majlis was a 'late night show'. Now they show it live - great improvement!
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