This article was written before the second round of elections but was not published as this might affect the decision of some voters
Since the reform movement began in 2003, the main target of the opposition has been to oust the incumbent president and start the rebuilding of this Nation from scratch. The main policy advocated by the main opposition party MDP has always been that bringing down Maumoon is the key to all political, economic and social reform in this country. Getting rid of him will smoothen everything on its own. MDP's main concept of getting rid of Maumoon is through revolution which, after several attempts has failed. Up until the run-up to the presidential elections the main modus operandi of MDP was to overthrow this regime through a revolution. The revolution that MDP longed for never happened.
Well, history is proving otherwise, we have a new constitution, we are voting for the next president and on the 28th of October the people of this Nation will decide who our next leader will be; the incumbent, or the all time political activist of Maldives Anni.
Keeping Maumoon in the Equation
The main reason Anni let Maumoon pass the elections commission as ‘eligible to stand’ was nothing but for Anni’s own survival. If Maumoon was out of the equation, the whole concept of MDP fails. There will be no Dictator to bring down but we will be electing a new leader to re-establish our country on all fronts. Has this been the case Anni probably would not have reached a second round.
MDP and Activism
I see MDP as a political rights activist movement rather than a Political party. MDP does not belong to any political ideologies but advocates street protests, petitions and other activities that policy makers normally tend to run away form. It’s these pressures from activists that policy makers look to when fighting for the rights of the people. MDP could have been the OTPOR of Maldives and instead could have played a key role in pressuring the opposition and endorsing their candidate. Has that been done this elections could have been a landmark landslide for the opposition.
Final word
All we are left with is to try as much to unite the people who have voted against Maumoon for various reasons. It is becoming very hard for MDP and the new alliance to convince their supporters to vote for Anni. If Anni can play the right cards unity is something that can be achieved. But, given the Nature of MDP and its grass root and Anni’s past actions, I personally do not believe they have the courage to bow down to the ‘perfect’ message the public needs right now. That is ‘Unite for Reform’ instead of ‘Vote for Anni’.
In the quest to oust the dictatorship in the first round, have we not overlooked a true candidate who can unite us all? Isn’t there any candidate who can bring us all together who does not have any dirty laundry so none of the factions can point a finger at him? If there is such a candidate MDP is the biggest mistake the reform movement has ever made.
