Waheed: Master or Puppet?

As some people [say], the Maldives does not have a leader now. Lots of leaders are here, and all are of the same level. And so then everybody runs the state as they please…And the senior leader should not say anything. ~ Dr Waheed

The Maldives does not have a leader and is currently under the control of an unidentified shadowy ‘group of leaders’, according to…the President. It is an astonishing statement for any leader to make.

There is much to suggest Waheed is as helpless as implied by his public whingeing. He does not, for instance, seem to have any authority to keep his own house in order. There are several examples.

Very early on in his presidency Waheed’s Special Advisor Hassan Saeed was secretly recorded describing Waheed as “politically the weakest person in the Maldives.”

In the United States, decorated Army General Stanely McChrystal had to resign after his aides were reported mocking Vice President Joe Biden. In the Maldives, Saeed, with his Jekyll and Hyde personality, remains in position.

Same with Abbas Adil Riza, the President’s Spokesperson. Riza’s ‘emotional outburst’ against the Indian High Commissioner left Waheed with diplomatic egg on his face. Yet, Riza remains authorised to speak for the President.

Would Waheed get rid of them if he had a choice? Judging from how quickly he fired his Transport Minister and Human Rights Minister, the answer is ‘yes.’ Abbas and Saeed made Waheed look an even bigger fool than did Shamheed and Dhiyana.

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Maldivian faith to Maldivians!

by Azra Naseem

Political prostitutes who pose as religious scholars and sell their Islamic learning to the highest bidder have become some of the biggest contributors to the current socio-political and economic turmoil in the Maldives.

Chief among them is Sheikh Imran Abdulla, current president of Adhaalath Party—an organisation which uses the religion of Islam as its chief recruitment and fundraising tool, and proudly exploits people’s faith for political purposes.

Sheikh Imran Abdulla was one of the chief choreographers of the Islamists’ role in the downfall of the Maldivian democracy. On 2 February 2012, he issued an ultimatum to the then President Mohamed Nasheed: resign within five days or be forced out of office.

Nasheed was forced to resign on 7 February.

Yesterday, Sheikh Imran, now a chief mover and shaker in the current ‘Coalition Government’ issued another ultimatum. This time to the government he helped put in place: get out of the 25-year contract with India’s GMR Group for upgrading and running the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport within six days (by 15 November), or else.

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Religious conservatives push to end girl-childhood at puberty

by Azra Naseem

Salafis and other religious conservatives in Male’ have openly begun pushing to have Maldivian girls declared women at puberty. This change would allow the marrying off of young children to other children or to older men, turning paedophilia into conjugal rights in the name of Islam.

The conservatives’ campaign has been launched opportunistically, on the back of the shocking news that a young girl of 11 gave birth at seven months last week.

 

Media is reporting a child has given birth. But I have no knowledge that a child can give birth…

 

 

Ey, you who claim to be Muslims! In ALLAH’s shariath a child becomes an adult when she has her periods, not when she’s 16, 18, 25

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