Male', Maldives.
President Nasheed last night imprisoned Deputy Leader of former coalition partner Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed. And then released him within 4 hours, upon a court injunction ordering his release.
In the process leading up to the imprisonment, Nasheed also imprisoned DQP Council member Ahmed Ibrahim Didi (ex-Sandhaanu writer and Nasheed's co-conspirator during Nasheed's wilderness years) and DQP Deputy Leader Abdul Matheen. Ibrahim Shareef (MaVotaa), Deputy Leader of Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party, was also handily detained by Maldives Police for an hour or so on some pretext or other.
What did these events achieve? Aside from reinforcing the image of Nasheed and his police as common thugs, these events played a more crucial role to influence Maldivian voter thinking for Presidency 2013. These events increased public support for MDP ally DQP. It projected to the avid public, the smooth public profile of DQP Leader Dr. Hassan Saeed, playing the role of part of the savvy lead lawyer for Dr. Jameel. It brought DQP to public attention as the stalwart defender of the constitutional rights of Maldivians. It rallied in support for DQP and Drs. Saeed and Jameel from DQP ally DRP's frontline activists. It roped in youth and activist from rivalling PPM, quick to adapt the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". In short, in the past week, DQP and its leaders Drs. Hassan and Saeed have zoomed up the national presidential candidate charts, all courtesy of friend and partner President Nasheed.
Nasheed has nothing to lose in giving a helping hand to Dr. Hassan Saeed. To the man who has blasphemed against religion of the populace Islam, sold out his country's assets, beggared the citizenry, persecuted political opponents, trampled upon citizen rights, his hard core supporters are his only support base. Hence, he has all the more to gain by balancing out his "opposing" teams, and later obtaining those opposition votes through a coalition with some of the teams. His choice of bed partners are evident even now: DQP, together with DRP.
Very simply, as before, with this drama of police victimization, Dr. Saeed would be eating away into Gayoom's educated and grass roots voter base. Dr. Saeed is Nasheed's only option for this, as DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has proven to be no match for Gayoom politically. Nor does DRP show any viable educated prop to Ahmed Thasmeen who can draw votes away from Gayoom, having only ex-MDPer and anti-Gayoom campaigner MaVota Mohamed Shareef as the elected Deputy leader.
A fourth partner may be courted at a later stage, namely Adhaalath Party. Any joint bid by Adhaalath and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), were it to materialize by some miracle, is still likely to defeat the MDP/DQP/DRP coalition. However, sadly for the Maldivian public, PPM is still engaged in trying to recapture the glory days of the Gayoom regime, while Nasheed, Dr. Hassan and Thasmeen play havoc with its voter base.
Only Adhaalath Party was smart enough to stay away from the melodramatic series being played out under President Nasheed's direction. Who knows, Adhaalath Party may be smart enough to build a successful solo bid for Presidency 2013 around an independent candidate who can draw in youth votes across the country.
In the process leading up to the imprisonment, Nasheed also imprisoned DQP Council member Ahmed Ibrahim Didi (ex-Sandhaanu writer and Nasheed's co-conspirator during Nasheed's wilderness years) and DQP Deputy Leader Abdul Matheen. Ibrahim Shareef (MaVotaa), Deputy Leader of Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party, was also handily detained by Maldives Police for an hour or so on some pretext or other.
What did these events achieve? Aside from reinforcing the image of Nasheed and his police as common thugs, these events played a more crucial role to influence Maldivian voter thinking for Presidency 2013. These events increased public support for MDP ally DQP. It projected to the avid public, the smooth public profile of DQP Leader Dr. Hassan Saeed, playing the role of part of the savvy lead lawyer for Dr. Jameel. It brought DQP to public attention as the stalwart defender of the constitutional rights of Maldivians. It rallied in support for DQP and Drs. Saeed and Jameel from DQP ally DRP's frontline activists. It roped in youth and activist from rivalling PPM, quick to adapt the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". In short, in the past week, DQP and its leaders Drs. Hassan and Saeed have zoomed up the national presidential candidate charts, all courtesy of friend and partner President Nasheed.
Nasheed has nothing to lose in giving a helping hand to Dr. Hassan Saeed. To the man who has blasphemed against religion of the populace Islam, sold out his country's assets, beggared the citizenry, persecuted political opponents, trampled upon citizen rights, his hard core supporters are his only support base. Hence, he has all the more to gain by balancing out his "opposing" teams, and later obtaining those opposition votes through a coalition with some of the teams. His choice of bed partners are evident even now: DQP, together with DRP.
Very simply, as before, with this drama of police victimization, Dr. Saeed would be eating away into Gayoom's educated and grass roots voter base. Dr. Saeed is Nasheed's only option for this, as DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has proven to be no match for Gayoom politically. Nor does DRP show any viable educated prop to Ahmed Thasmeen who can draw votes away from Gayoom, having only ex-MDPer and anti-Gayoom campaigner MaVota Mohamed Shareef as the elected Deputy leader.
A fourth partner may be courted at a later stage, namely Adhaalath Party. Any joint bid by Adhaalath and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), were it to materialize by some miracle, is still likely to defeat the MDP/DQP/DRP coalition. However, sadly for the Maldivian public, PPM is still engaged in trying to recapture the glory days of the Gayoom regime, while Nasheed, Dr. Hassan and Thasmeen play havoc with its voter base.
Only Adhaalath Party was smart enough to stay away from the melodramatic series being played out under President Nasheed's direction. Who knows, Adhaalath Party may be smart enough to build a successful solo bid for Presidency 2013 around an independent candidate who can draw in youth votes across the country.