I have spent much of the last week in discussions about the National Enquiry Commission which of course has implications for the next Presidential election. And these are important issues. But their respective outcomes won't by themselves solve all of our country's problems. by Dr Hassan Saeed
At present, ‘normal’ politics is on hold whilst differing interpretations of the events leading up to and including February 7 swamp any other political dialogue.
I have already written about the issues that I believe will dominate the next election campaign. I believe voters will want to know which candidate and which party is most likely to deliver economic security and a better standard of living for themselves and their families.
So whilst the constitutional debate is vital and must be resolved we simply cannot afford for it to continue to dominate our political agenda to the exclusion of all else.
Anybody who wants to lead a country in the future needs to be able to finish the sentence ‘I will bring peace, stability and prosperity, to the Maldives by the following actions.......‘
We need to be offered a convincing scenario that credibly describes how the Maldives might move forward as a united country.
Will the outcome of the National Enquiry Commission bring some sort of closure? Well it should help but it won’t be enough by itself. The views of activists on either side of this debate are so polarised that it’s hard to see how this could heal the divide.
The divisions in our country involve our hearts as much as our rational minds. There are some who will never change their views no matter what the outcome of the National Enquiry Commission is.
A similar point can be made with regards to the next Presidential election. Democracy cannot be about absolute winners â€" a government has to govern for the whole country.
This has always been one of my major criticisms of former President Nasheed - he seemed to interpret democracy as a one off event â€" the election itself â€" but he forgot the need to embrace democratic values and inclusiveness.
And politicians need to deal with the reality that means they can’t simply write off the views of a substantial proportion of the population which doesn’t support them. This goes for both sides.
But above all the future prosperity of our country is at risk. Our country’s finances are going from bad to worse and for the sake of all Maldivians â€" regardless of whom they support or which party they belong to â€"our politicians must start to work together to avoid financial collapse.
I guess that the activists on the two sides of the divide hope and pray for two very different outcomes to our present problems.
Some hope that President Waheed will wake up one morning and, irrespective of the outcome of the National Enquiry Commission, decide that he was wrong after all to be sworn in as President and hand power back to his predecessor.
Others hope that one day Mr Nasheed will wake up, and acknowledge that he resigned and was a presidential failure and retire from the political stage.
And of course either of these outcomes will be accepted by the respective supporters and peace and harmony will be restored...!
However hard it is, it is an absolute duty of all responsible politicians to take the first steps towards building national unity and consensus that will ensure prosperity for all our citizens.
Let’s hope our leaders will be wiser and would not let activists to dictate terms. Let’s also hope that our leaders will look beyond elections â€" as visionaries do.
Note: Dr Hassan Saeed is currently the Special Advisor to President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik
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