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DE RUEHLM #0137/01 0361359
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P 051359Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7658
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 4246
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 1823
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 8325
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5816
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0731
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2611
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000137 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KISL AORC ML
SUBJECT: MALDIVES UPDATE: UN ELECTION MISSION DELAYED 
AGAIN; ISLAMIC PARTY CRITICIZES PRESIDENT 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 0026 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In a series of meetings on January 30, the 
Embassy learned that the Special Majlis considering 
constitutional reform has not yet resolved the section on 
transitional arrangements, because of disputes over whether 
President Gayoom should be allowed to run and whether a 
transitional government should be appointed to oversee the 
Presidential elections.  The New Maldives group expressed 
concern about the ruling DRP party's attempt to discredit 
them and limit their candidate's access to state-run 
television and radio.  They also expressed disappointment 
that India has not engaged on democracy issues in the 
Maldives. The Islamic Adhaalath party criticized President 
Gayoom for failing to address growing social problems such as 
drug abuse and for exploiting religious extremism to gain 
international support.  They attributed growing extremism to 
the influence of radical ideas Maldivian youth read on the 
internet and the failure of the Maldivian educational system 
to teach Islamic values. The Foreign Minister told the 
Ambassador that he had asked the UN to delay the visit of the 
UN election assessment team from mid-February to mid-March so 
that the Constitutional Reform process would be complete by 
the time of the team's visit.  Ambassador told all 
interlocutors that the U.S. had not taken a position on the 
question of an interim Government or whether Gayoom should be 
allowed to run again, but assured them the U.S. would 
continue to press all sides to support the creation of 
independent institutions such as an Elections Commission, an 
independent judiciary, an independent Civil Service 
Commission (so the President cannot force the bureaucracy to 
campaign for him), an independent media, and an independent 
police, so that these institutions can help ensure free and 
fair elections.  End Summary. 
 
New Maldives Express Concern About Ruling Party Tactics 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In a meeting with the "New Maldives" group 
consisting of the former Foreign Minister, Justice Minister, 
and Attorney General the three expressed concern about 
tactics the Government is using to try and discredit them in 
advance of the Presidential election campaign.  They alleged 
that the Government had accused New Maldives of terrorist 
plotting on an island none of the three had even visited. 
The President had also accused opposition parties of being 
behind the stabbing attempt against him (ref A).  The 
Presidential spokes person went further, alleging that "a 
opposition alliance" was behind the attempt.  This was a 
clear reference to New Maldives in the view of its three 
leaders.  The New Maldives leaders also complained that 
state-run T.V. and radio where providing exclusive coverage 
for the President's campaign-style travel around the country, 
while providing no coverage whatsoever for the speeches and 
visits of the New Maldives candidate Hassan Saeed. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The New Maldives group was also concerned that two 
associates of the President had applied to register "the New 
Maldives movement" as an NGO in the Maldives to take this 
name away from New Maldives.  Former Foreign Minister Shaheed 
said he had received a clear promise that the ruling party 
would not do this.  He alleged that with the movement now 
registered the Government had threatened to arrest New 
Maldives members if they attempted to use that name.  Shaheed 
said that New Maldives has now submitted an application for 
"The New Maldives Association" which he hoped would be 
approved.  (Note:  Ambassador subsequently raised this with 
the Foreign Minister - see para 16.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Asked for their assessment of the Special Majlis' 
progress on constitutional reform, the three leaders expected 
that the Special Majlis would be likely to complete its work 
by the end of February.  They said there remains a major 
dispute about whether the President should be allowed to seek 
another term.  At the same time they claimed Gayoom would be 
the easiest candidate to beat.  They noted for example, that 
on a visit to the southern atoll of Adu the previous day, a 
far smaller number of islanders had turned out for the 
President's visit than a year earlier for a visit that the 
three ministers had helped to organize when they were in 
government. 
 
 
COLOMBO 00000137  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The New Maldives leaders also alerted the Ambassador 
to a potential major new development, which was the 
possibility that the President's Finance Minister Ibrahim 
Qasim might split with the President to form his own party 
and possibly team up with MDP leader Munnavar who had been 
told by the MDP that he would not be the party candidate for 
President.  Qasim's money and influence coupled with 
Munnavar's MDP support would make their new party a strong 
contender, Shaheed predicted.  The Ambassador asked how many 
candidates would be allowed to stand in the elections. 
Shaheed responded that there could be as many as five to six 
candidates, from which the top two would compete in a run-off 
provided no candidate received 50 percent of the vote in the 
first round. 
 
US For Independent Institutions 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Asked for his views on whether Gayoom should be 
allowed to run and the opposition's push for the appointment 
for an interim Government to supervise Presidential 
elections, Ambassador responded that U.S. had not taken a 
position on the question of an interim Government since it 
was hard to defend appointing an interim government to 
replace an elected one.  He also said it was up to Maldivians 
to determine whether Gayoom should be allowed to run.  The 
U.S. would, however, continue to press all sides to support 
the creation of independent institutions such as an Elections 
Commission, an independent judiciary, an independent Civil 
Service Commission (so the President cannot force the 
bureaucracy to campaign for him), an independent media, and 
an independent police.  The U.S. also supports the visit of a 
UN team to assess what measures needed to be put in place to 
ensure a free and fair election. 
 
India's Role Disappointing 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador asked if the Indian High Commission 
in Male' and the Indian Government more broadly were engaging 
in any of these democracy issues given India's public support 
for the democracy agenda in the UN and elsewhere.  All three 
leaders responded that only the U.S., EU and UK were playing 
helpful roles.  India had not engaged, which they said was 
"very disappointing". 
 
First Ever Meeting with Islamic Party Adhaalath 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In the first ever meeting with the U.S. Embassy, 
Adhaalath party President Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed and 
Vice President Dr. Mauroof Hussain explained that they had 
registered Adhaalath as a political party to promote social 
justice in the Maldives.  The two leaders claimed that the 
party has 6,000 members registered with the Election 
Commission, another 4,000 unregistered members, and offices 
on 35 islands in the Maldives.  Sheikh Ahmed noted that 
Maldives faces significant social challenges, including 
rampant drug use by the majority of Maldivian youth, 
widespread corruption, and degradation of moral values such 
as the decline of respect by children for their elders. 
Sheikh Ahmed accused the present Government of not doing 
enough on any of these issues, which had led to the September 
bombing in Male and an increase in crime. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Ambassador asked for their views on religious 
extremism in the Maldives.  Sheikh Ahmed responded that his 
party is concerned about the rise of extremism in the 
Maldives, but that so far the extremists represent a 
minority. He attributed extremism to the Government's failure 
to understand and properly deal with the problem.  When 
tensions rose more than a year ago on the island of 
Himandhoo, Sheikh Ahmed said he met with the Maldivian Chief 
of Police and urged that Adhaalath be allowed to talk to the 
disaffected youth on the island and that the Government not 
repress them.  The Chief of Police refused, leading to the 
confrontation that had taken place in late 2007.  The 
Ambassador asked why they thought the troubles had started in 
Himandhoo.  Dr. Hussain said the troubles began when the 
Government decided to build a mosque on the site of a 
graveyard, which is forbidden in Islam.  The people refused 
to worship in that mosque and opened their own unlicensed 
 
COLOMBO 00000137  003 OF 004 
 
 
one, to which the Government objected. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Both Adhaalath leaders accused President Gayoom of 
exploiting religious extremism, so that he can seek 
international support to fight it.  The Ambassador reassured 
both leaders that while the U.S. opposes extremism 
everywhere, the U.S. was not supporting Gayoom or any other 
candidate in the 2008 elections.  Rather, the U.S. supports a 
free and fair democratic process.  The Adhaalath leaders 
welcomed the U.S. position and characterized the present 
regime in the Maldives as the country's biggest hurdle.  Dr. 
Hussain complained that no institutions are free, and that 
the Government controls the civil service and has "cronies" 
to run all the islands. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The Ambassador asked where the support for 
extremism came from, particularly whether any foreign 
countries were providing support.  The two leaders again 
sought to downplay the influence of extremists, pointing out 
that there is no organized extremist movement in Maldives. 
They said Maldivian youth are not receiving adequate Islamic 
education and are therefore easily influenced by extremist 
ideas they read on the internet.  Both leaders accused 
President Gayoom of using Islam for the Government's 
objectives rather than for promoting Islamic values.  The 
Ambassador asked if the Imams in the country's mosques dare 
speak up against the Government.  Sheikh Ahmed said they do 
not because they are appointed by the Government and are 
afraid to lose their jobs. 
 
¶12. (SBU)  The Ambassador asked for Adhaalath's views on 
education in the Maldives.  Both lamented that the Maldives 
has no recognized university, which forces students to go 
overseas.  They observed that most primary and secondary 
schools in the Maldives now teach in the medium of English. 
Only two schools have instruction in Arabic where both 
Islamic and secular subjects are taught.  These too are 
Government-run, but Dr. Hussain pointed with pride to the 
fact that students graduating from the Arabic medium schools 
were far less prone to drug use than their counterparts in 
secular schools. 
 
Government Delays UN Assessment Team 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶13. (SBU) In a subsequent meeting with Foreign Minister 
Abdalla, the Minister told the Ambassador that he had written 
UN Under Secretary General Pascoe to delay the visit of the 
UN election assessment team from mid-February to mid-March so 
that the Constitutional Reform process would be complete by 
the time of their visit.  The Minister expressed satisfaction 
that the majority of constitutional articles had been adopted 
with cross-party support.  He was particularly pleased that 
the chapter on rights is "totally consistent" with the 
Universal Declaration on Human Rights.  For example, the new 
Constitution provides for the right of assembly without prior 
permission and contains strong provisions on press freedom, 
he said.  The Minister noted that the Special Majlis was 
still debating the sensitive question of transitional 
arrangements prior to the elections. 
 
Religious Freedom Challenge 
--------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Minister candidly divulged that he was not 
satisfied with the provision in the Rights chapter that every 
Maldivian must be a Muslim.  He said this particular 
amendment would contravene obligations that Maldives had 
undertaken in joining several international conventions. 
Already, he said that the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of 
Religion had written to express concern about this Amendment. 
 The Foreign Minster explained that he had already written 
the Special Majlis to reconsider this particular Amendment. 
 
¶15. (SBU) With respect to the opposition's call for the 
appointment of a transitional government to supervise 
elections, the Minister said there was no justification for 
such a proposal.  He questioned the rationale for appointing 
an unelected interim administration to replace a 
democratically elected government.  He said that the 
Government was proposing that candidates for the Election, 
Civil Service, and other independent commissions be approved 
 
COLOMBO 00000137  004 OF 004 
 
 
after consultation with all parties.  These independent 
institutions could then supervise elections.  Parliamentary 
elections would then be held within 6 months after the 
Presidential elections. 
 
¶16. (SBU) The Ambassador repeated that the U.S. had not taken 
a position on the question of an interim government, but 
would strongly support the appointment of independent 
institutions to supervise and ensure free and fair elections. 
 He said that international judgments on the fairness of the 
elections would hinge in part on how free and impartial such 
institutions as the Election Commission, judiciary, and the 
media would be.  He shared with the Minister opposition 
complaints that already that state-run T.V. and radio had 
blacked out all coverage of Hassan Saeed.  Once the formal 
campaign began the Government would need to make a special 
effort to allow balanced coverage from all of the candidates. 
 The Ambassador also urged the Government to approve the New 
Maldives application to register "The New Maldives 
Association".  To deny it would be petty and of no real 
benefit to the Government.  The Minister agreed and thought 
the Association would be approved. 
BLAKE