This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS COLOMBO 002138 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVES: IBRAHIM ISMAIL ELECTED PRESIDENT OF 
OPPOSITION MDP IN FIRST EVER PARTY CONGRESS 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 2025 
     ¶B. COLOMBO 1953 
 
¶1. (U) The opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) held 
its first ever party Congress in Male' December 19-21.  On 
December 20, delegates at the Congress used a cascading 
preferential voting system to elect Member of Parliament (MP) 
Ibrahim Ismail party president and former SAARC 
secretary-general Ibrahim Hussein Zaki as vice president. 
 
SIPDIS 
Ismail, a long-time MDP activist, beat his closest 
competitor, former UNDP officer Dr. Waheed Hussein, by 
roughly 50 out of a total of 300 votes.  The MDP had hired 
Eliott Roberts, a British consultant from the Electoral 
Reform Services, to oversee the election, which he described 
to the press as "very free and very fair." 
 
¶2. (U) Also at the Congress December 20, Mohamed Nasheed, 
currently under house arrest on terrorism charges (Ref B), 
was elected party chairperson by an overwhelming majority. 
That same day, the President's office granted Nasheed 
temporary respite from his house arrest to attend the 
Congress and address party members briefly.  Police escorted 
him to and from the Congress venue.  According to press 
contacts, Nasheed was permitted to attend the Congress 
December 21 as well, again with a police escort. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ismail is a veteran MDP activist who has served 
time in prison (and in solitary confinement) for expressing 
anti-government views.  (We visited him in detention on 
Dhoonidoo island in the fall of 2004.)  Following civil 
unrest in Male' in August 2004, Ismail was one of four 
pro-reform Special Majlis (Constitutional Assembly) MPs 
detained and charged with sedition.  In January of 2005, 
Ismail ran for the People's Majlis-- beginning his campaign 
while still under house arrest-- and beat thirteen other 
contenders to win the seat as an MP for Male'.  Some MDP 
interlocutors have noted that Ismail has "autocratic 
tendencies," but he is widely perceived as committed to the 
reform cause and willing to work with other party members. 
Many in the party view Ismail's record of activism as 
providing "street credibility."  In our conversations with 
him, we have found him to be personable, passionate about 
democratization, and pragmatic in his approach.  He has 
mentioned working with Government of the Republic of Maldives 
(GORM) officials behind the scenes in order to assist his 
reform-minded constituents. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment: The MDP had been gearing up for this 
Congress for the past several months, with party leaders 
expressing optimism, tempered by worries of a possible GORM 
crack-down.  The fact that the Congress has passed 
peacefully, with the GORM releasing Nasheed to attend, bodes 
well for future consultations between the government and the 
opposition.  The government's Dhivehi Rai'yythunge Party 
(DRP, or Maldivian People's Party) is scheduled to hold its 
own party congress in January.  The peaceful MDP party 
congress provides a good template-- and a tough act-- for its 
rival to follow.  End comment. 
LUNSTEAD