Mohamed Nasheed: Leader of a New Era

By Brig (Retd) Rahul K Bhonsle

(February 13, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) When Mohamed Nasheed popularly known as Anni launched the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the success of the political enterprise was doubtful. The President then Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was all-powerful while Nasheed was seen as a civil rights activist who had been in and out of jails. However Mr Nasheed not only won the Presidential elections but through his magnetism and charm has won the approval of most World leaders.

The powerful participation and personal pitch made by President Nasheed in Copenhagen Climate Change Summit was appreciated globally including by US President Barack Obama. This has also benefited the country financially. The European Commission confirmed a Climate Change Trust Fund of 6.5 million Euros to the Government of Maldives for mitigation and adaptation projects and technical support on climate change. This came during a meeting of President Mohamed Nasheed with World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick on 15th December as part of his visit to Copenhagen for the COP 15 climate change summit.

Possibly recognizing the primacy of Mr Nasheed, on 25 January Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and former president of the Maldives announced his resignation from politics ahead of the party’s national congress in February making way for younger leadership.

Mr Gayoom’s departure heralds an overall shift in leadership in Maldives to a young and vibrant President which is more than welcome. While in no way detracting the tremendous contribution made by the former President, today the approach has to be to integrate with the World and President Nasheed has done this with great aplomb. The more you integrate the more you benefit not just as a nation but as a people, this is the lesson of contemporary economics and politics.

The benefits of the integrationist approach were evident for Maldives in the Climate Change summit in Copenhagen and are also manifest with increase in investments from India. While India and Maldives have always had the best of relations, there was lack of business confidence that had led Indian businesses to shun Male so far, now this trend is being reversed.

Indian corporate houses including Tatas, Suzlon, GMR, Apollo Hospitals and Oberoi have lined up investments worth $1 billion (around Rs 4,500 crore) in Maldives, over the next two to three years. "To attract more investment from India, the Maldivian government is planning to ease the procedures for India Inc and planning to offer various incentives," said Ahmed Shaheed, the country’s foreign minister. "We will see to it that procedure like tendering process, request for proposals and expression of interest, which were taking too long, will be eased for the Indian corporates. We will also cut short the bureaucratic hurdles," said President Mohammed Nasheed.

Maldives is also posed with the challenge of modernization, its antithesis fundamentalism. Reports of some of the Maldivian youth having been trained in the tribal areas of Pakistan have been a cause of concern for the President. As a nation with a vast territory spread over its large number of atolls and a small population, Maldives is highly vulnerable to the scourge of extremism. The Government has been vigilant so far and has followed sound policies to ensure that this does not take roots, however this is a long battle in the days ahead.

The challenge to the current government will be to maintain the traditional roots, while continuing with modernization, the Gross National Happiness route followed by Bhutan perhaps. Recognition of this truism will serve the new sources of power well.

( Brig. (Retd) Rahul K Bhonsle is an army veteran with South Asia Security-Risks.com, a South Asian security risk and knowledge management consultancy and Editor South Asia Security Trends. His most recent book is, “Securing India: Assessment of Security and Defence Capabilities”. )