A Nasheed-led government that delivers even half of its promises would be a thousand times better than a Gayyoom-led government that delivers 100%

It’s been over three months since my last post on this blog. Maldivian politics has been evolving at a hectic pace over this period. There has been the issue of us reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel. There has been a number of rallies by the opposition (DRP) calling for President Nasheed to resign for “incompetence”!
Gayyoom’s brothers Yamin and Abdullah Hameed, along with Gayyoom’s two sons (Farish and Gassan) seem to be orchestrating the current wave of opposition against the government. Some of the visible media such as VTV and DhiFM seem to be inclined towards DRP and canvassing against the MDP-led government.

I believe that DHIFM (especially the morning programme presented by Amin) are fighting a losing battle that is so naive and easy to read. If one asks me who the biggest loser in the current political field is I have to say it’s Dr. Hassan Saeed. He had the support of the people and the opportunity to lead the country or at least be the running-mate of Nasheed. He gave up that opportunity thinking that “Coast Milk” does not need advertising! Look at him now!

Does Dr. Saeed think that his little battles with the government - where he sends little foot soldiers such as Amin to the front line while he hides behind his doctoral cloak – will reignite his political career? Dr. Saeed – if he still harbors political ambitions – should come out of his cloak and start talking to the people directly. If he thinks that DhiFM and Amin and some help from Jameel could somehow rejuvenate his political career then one should really feel sorry for him!
I was always of the feeling that Dr. Shaheed was the most politically mature person amongst the three-docs!

As for the Israel issue I have to say that I too am a devout Muslim but I do not understand what the hysteria is about just because we have reestablished political relations with Israel. Islam does not call for us to stop communicating with non-Muslims. Nor does Islam call for us to stop making agreements with non-Muslims. Why not normalize relations with Israel. Nothing wrong with it. What’s this fake hysteria about Islam when it was Gayyoom’s reign that saw the systematic dismantling of our Islamic fundamentals?

I welcome all the mega-projects of this government. If you reach for the stars you may not exactly get one but you won’t end up with a handful of mud either. So we should always set lofty targets and work towards those goals. That will never let us down. International airports and green-energy projects and huge numbers of resorts and international schools and international hospitals and reliable inter-island and inter-atoll ferry networks and paved roads and sewerage systems in inhabited islands and mega-housing projects are just few of the basic things that Gayyoom should have given us. Now that this government is going into overdrive to squeeze these things into a five-year period, Gayyoom and DRP is trying to mislead us into thinking that those are all castles on clouds.

I have every confidence that a Nasheed-led government will deliver. Ok it too has some shortcomings and faults. But a Nasheed-led government that delivers even half of its promises would be a thousand times better than a Gayyoom-led government that delivers 100% of its promises. That is a certainty.