VZCZCXRO6442
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHLM #1142/01 3491225
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151225Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0979
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2165
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 9199
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 7444
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5298
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3597
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 9759
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 7050
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3909
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001142 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INSB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL MV
SUBJECT: SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS: MALDIVIAN PARTIES LEARNING ABOUT 
DEMOCRACY. 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On December 7 and 8, PolOffs traveled to 
Maldives to meet with political parties tomee Party (DQP), a member of the coalition 
party that recently broke away from government. As expected, there 
were dissenting opinions on the current state of the country but 
also several points of agreement, such as the inexperience of 
government appointees, the need to strengthen independent 
institutions, particularly the judiciary, and the lack of political 
dialogue among government, opposition and coalition parties. END 
SUMMARY. 
 
MALDIVIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (MDP) 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Background:  Mohamed Nasheed founded MDP in November 2003 
while in exile. Until the presidential elections in October 2008 
when Nasheed became the country's first democratically elected 
president, it served as the main opposition party. Its stated goal 
is the promotion of human rights and democracy in Maldives. MDP has 
26 of the 77 seats in parliament. It is the second largest political 
party in the country, with 28,995 members. MDP was confident it 
would soon surpass DRP's membership of 30,215. 
 
¶3. (SBU) PolOffs met with MDP Secretary General Hassan Shah and 
MDP members Imthiyaz Fahmy and Ahmed Hamza on December 7. All are 
members of parliament. MDP members stated that while political 
pluralism was a new concept the country had embraced, with 13 
political parties and 450 candidates competing for 77 seats at this 
year's first parliamentary elections, handling the new-found 
freedoms under the new constitution was something they were still 
grappling with. They understood that differences in views and 
opinions were part of democracy but stated the need for a strong, 
viable opposition that was not driven solely by politics and 
resorted to opposing for the sake of opposition. 
 
¶4. (SBU) MDP members acknowledged that independent institutions 
had to be strengthened to ensure checks and balances. Particular 
attention was given to the judiciary, which was composed of the same 
people appointed by the previous administration when there was no 
strict separation between the executive and judiciary. Moreover, 
there was no codification of Islamic law, and the judiciary was 
faced with the challenge of reconciling Islamic law with common law. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) On accusations that the government and MDP were trying 
to impose their agenda on issues concerning the reduction of the 
civil service and the decentralization model of seven administrative 
atolls instead of the 21 administrative regions preferred by the 
opposition, MDP reported that these were not "dictatorial policies" 
as described by the opposition, but measures that the government was 
trying to implement in accordance with reforms contained in the MDP 
Manifesto which was circulated during the presidential campaign. 
MDP also noted the unlimited freedom of expression enjoyed by the 
opposition stating that this was a right that MDP would be unable to 
exercise if DRP was still in power. 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to MDP, despite differences in opinions, they 
were usually able to come to some agreement with the opposition and 
in jest stated, "If we can't bend them in parliament, we bend them 
outside." MDP noted that they were working towards garnering support 
from other members of parliament as they recognized that the lack of 
a majority was a major obstacle in moving their agenda. All 
challenges considered, MDP stated that they believed that the 
country was progressing quickly. 
 
DHIVEHI RAYYITHUNGE PARTY (DRP) 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Background: The chairman of the DRP is former president 
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The DRP's stated aims include the facilitation 
of greater prosperity for the people, increasing public 
participation in governance and promotion of Islamic principles. 
DRP has credited Gayoom as the "architect of the social and economy 
progress that the Maldives has attained over the past 
 
COLOMBO 00001142  002 OF 004 
 
 
quarter-century."  The DRP has 28 out of the 77 seats in parliament 
and is the main opposition party. 
 
¶8. (SBU) On December 7, PolOffs met with Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, DRP 
Deputy Leader and Abdulla Mausoom, DRP Secretary General. Both are 
members of parliament.  PolOff also met separately with Speaker of 
Parliament Abdulla Shahid, a member of the DRP, who discussed 
parliamentary issues but on occasion spoke on behalf of the party. 
The DRP leaders stated that the newly-established democratic 
institutions required strengthening, noting that the judiciary was 
unprepared for its independent role.  DRP believed that the 
judiciary's authd consultations. 
 
¶9. (SBU) DRP representatives stated that while the government had 
announced plans to reduce the civil service and had removed 
subsidies on print media under the pretext of the global financial 
crisis, it had increased its expenditure on an inordinate number of 
political appointees. DRP was also critical of the government's 
decision to abolish Island Development Committees (IDCs), elected 
bodies of five to seven members, functioning as a local council, 
after courts ruled they no longer had legal authority under the new 
constitution.  DRP described the move as undemocratic and said it 
would challenge the decision. (NOTE: The government has since 
instituted a temporary measure of appointing advisory boards that 
will administer the islands until local council elections are held. 
END NOTE.) 
 
¶10. (SBU) On renewing ties with Israel, Shahid indicated that 
DRP was not opposed to the government's decision but supported a 
gradual restoration of ties dependent on progress made on peace 
talks. On former president Gayoom's leadership in DRP and the future 
of the party, Shahid speculated that Gayoom was reluctant to retire 
from politics for fear of being made redundant and defenseless in 
the face of the ongoing corruption probe by the government. Shahid 
urged the United States and other western governments to intervene 
by providing assurances to Gayoom that he would be protected from 
what he believed was a witch hunt. Shahid stated that DRP supported 
any investigation into allegations of corruption but it should be 
within the confines of established institutions to ensure due 
process. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Shahid expressed concern that Gayoom's continued 
involvement in DRP would be detrimental to the party because it 
could lose the next generation of supporters who would associate the 
party with Gayoom and his 30 year regime.  He indicated that the 
next party congress, where party leaders will be elected, was 
scheduled for the middle of next year. Shahid, nevertheless, spoke 
highly of Gayoom, whom he described as a learned man and an Islamic 
scholar who had plenty to contribute outside politics.  He noted 
that Gayoom was among the first to speak on environmental protection 
long before it became "fashionable".  Shahid asserted that democracy 
existed during Gayoom's administration and described the transition 
to the new government as "a new era of democracy." 
 
ADHAALATH PARTY 
--------------- 
¶12. (U) Background: The Adhaalath Party is two of its members, Dr. Abdul 
Majeed Bari and Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed. The party's 
president is Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed. 
 
¶13. (SBU) PolOffs met with Asim Mohamed, Adhalaath Party's 
interim Vice President on December 7.  Mohamed stated that the 
perception that Adhalaath was a religious party was inaccurate. 
While admitting that their grassroots were more conservative, he 
denied being an Islamist party. Asim had previously described the 
party as "center, conservative left."  He noted that though some 
party leaders were religious scholars trained in the Middle East, 
they also had scholars, such as himself who were trained in 
Australia. 
 
 
COLOMBO 00001142  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) Mohamed noted that their critics ran the gamut from 
those who thought they were too conservative and those who did not 
think they were conservative enough. These conservative critics had 
argued that the principles of democracy were not consistent with 
Islam and had accused them of not doing enough to protect Islamic 
culture.  Mohamed indicated that extremism can be traced to the 
growth of Wahhabism, independent prayer groups, and the lack of 
accurate information on Islam. In a bid to protect Maldivians who 
study in Pakistan from extremist ideals, Mohamed indicated that 
Adhaalath was working with the Pakistan government to obtain a list 
of approved educational institutions. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Mohamed stated that the government did not consult 
with them on the decentralization issue, the plan to reduce the 
civil service and renewal of ties with Israel.  Although they were 
in favor of the seven administrative regions proposed by the 
government, understood the need for a leane the island level, a backlash could 
have 
been prevented. Mohamed also noted the lack of experience of the 
government's appointees. Mohamed, however, defended the government's 
move to create appointee posts at the island level to oversee the 
island chiefs, claiming that it was necessary since the government 
wields little authority with the island leaders whose loyalties lie 
with the previous regime. 
 
¶16. (SBU) Mohamed disclosed that Adhaalath was "reasonably 
comfortable" with the government's foreign policy as they recognized 
that the country could not live in isolation. They pointed out, 
however, the need for increased participation and consultation with 
coalition parties, especially since the parties had members to whom 
they answer. Mohamed maintained that it might take a couple of 
years, but democracy and due process would eventually take root. 
Meanwhile, the party stated that norms of conduct would have to be 
developed to avoid inflammatory debates that created a divisive 
government. 
 
DHIVEHI QAUMEE PARTY (DQP) 
-------------------------- 
¶17. (U) Background: DQP was founded in January 2009 by Foreign 
Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, also a founding member of the Dhivehi 
Rayyithunge Party (DRP), and Dr. Hassan Saeed, Attorney General 
under Gayoom's administration. The DQP was part of the Maldivian 
Democratic Party (MDP) led coalition government. The DQP describes 
itself as "centrist, with focus on rule of law to consolidate 
democracy, the improvement of social conditions and a free market 
approach to solving economic issues."  The DQP has two seats in 
Parliament. Dr. Saeed resigned his post as special advisor to 
President Nasheed on the anniversary of the new government's 100 
days in power. In October 1, 2009, the DQP pulled out of the 
government coalition claiming it had failed to deliver on its 
promises. Dr. Shaheed joined the ruling MDP. (NOTE: In October 2008, 
Dr. Saeed and Dr. Shaeed ran on an independent ticket as President 
and Vice-President respectively. END NOTE.) 
 
¶18. (SBU) PolOff met with Hassan Saeed, co-founder of the DQP, 
on December 8. Saeed was heavily critical of the government and 
President Mohamed Nasheed, whom he asserted was a "Mugabe in the 
making."  Saeed stated that people in the government might be new 
but the old system, with a top-heavy government, an abundance of 
political appointees, and a state-media dominated press was firmly 
in place. He noted that while the previous administration had 500 
appointees, the current government had 690, most of whom were 
in 
claimed that President Nasheed personally threatened to cancel the 
business contracts of the two DQP members of parliament if they 
supported the vote and bribed them with lengthy extensions on their 
contracts if they voted against it. He claimed that Shaheed's 
decision to join MDP was due to pressure from the government. 
Members of the judiciary had also reportedly been harassed by the 
police on orders from the government. Saeed stated that police at 
 
COLOMBO 00001142  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
the top levels revealed that the government had placed wiretaps to 
monitor senior opposition members and concluded that with Nasheed, 
there would be no democracy in the country. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
¶20. (SBU) Democracy is clearly in its infancy in Maldives. 
There is marked uncertainty as both the government and the 
opposition movement face unfamiliar challenges and responsibilities 
that come with their new roles in the democratic process. The 
government's primary concern is ensuring its survival, which it 
believes is threatened by weak institutions and a fractious 
opposition that has called for its overthrow. It is possible that 
the government is employing strong arm tactics, as alleged by the 
opposition, against institutions and persons it determines is 
undermining its authority.  Post will watch these developments 
closely. 
 
¶21. (SBU) DRP is struggling with its subordinate role and is 
still coming to terms with its defeat in the hands of what it 
regards as inexperienced and untrained "activists," who know nothing 
about governance.  DRP has been very vocal in its criticism of the 
government's policies, most recently the removal of government 
subsidies for print media.  While DRP has called this decisioious administration. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Adhaalath reportedly has a long-term deal with the 
government involving high-level positions for its members. The first 
being the establishment of a Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which is 
now headed by two of its members. The recent appointment of an 
Adhaalath member as Minister of State for Home Affairs was 
reportedly in exchange for its support of the government's foreign 
policy on Israel. A third post at the Ministry of Education is 
supposedly in the offing. As long as the government fulfills its end 
of the bargain, it reportedly can depend on Adhaalath's continued 
support. 
 
¶23. (SBU) Although DQP has attributed the souring of its 
relationship with the government to its "failure to implement 
reforms", it is possible that Saeed, who competed with Nasheed 
during the national elections, still harbors ambitions for the 
presidency. Some have surmised that DQP has recently been asserting 
itself as it needs to be seen as an active organization by the 
Elections Commissions, which will soon be allocating funds for 
political parties. 
 
¶24. (SBU) The government, by way of MDP supporters, has been 
accused of using the streets as a venue for pushing its policies. If 
the government hopes to move its agenda, the ruling party has to 
recognize that while the demonstrations served its purposes when it 
was the opposition, it is now faced with the bigger task of running 
a country, which would require engagement of coalition partners and 
opposition alike. At the same time, the opposition also has to learn 
that a stable democracy requires a constructive opposition. 
 
BUTENIS