Lately, some Maldivians are considering being religious uncool. Revere the wisdom of God's word and you get labeled a buffoon. Consider the Quran a divine revelation and you become a retarded barbarian.

Have Maldivians finally found the secret to the origins of life? More importantly, have they unveiled the posthumous journey awaiting them? Is there some magical travel agency which is selling tickets to eternal bliss after life?

Makes one wonder about the wisdom of God's decree.

It is surprising that Dr. Shaheed has the balls to counter Gayoom's accusations on behalf of Anni. Interesting that having abstained from voicing his concerns whilst serving in Gayoom's cabinet Shaheed is now portraying himself as a self-righteous monk.

Here is the extent of Shaheed's pro-Anni sentiments. Gayoom says Darfur is a western propaganda and Shaheed interprets that as championing dictatorships. And the next most current dictatorship that came to his mind was Pol Pot?!

It has taken less than 6 months for Maldivians to realize that electing Anni is the biggest mistake they ever made. Even the coalition is falling apart, what with the growing anger within the ranks of Adhaalath and the departure of former allies, Hassan Saeed and Gasim. Time is fast approaching for Shaheed himself to start chastising his current masters (eh fulhah mathin fummaali bakari...). Either that or Shaheed's own head might end up in the sacrificial guillotine.

Minivan News is at it again. It appears that whenever the current government makes a blunder, MN comes to its aid.

According to MN, the president's rebuttal is summed up thus:
'...the public has become overly accustomed to the same manner of speech after having the same ruler, Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, for the last thirty years.'

If that is the president's idea of an apology then he certainly has no respect for equality and fairness. His statements are no less than intentional fear-mongering devised to attain political leverage for his party. Debate all you want, but there is no contextual distortion in that interpretation.

If it is the pressures of the job getting to him, then he should offer a proper apology. This author suspects that any such apology will surface (if at all) only after the parliamentary elections.

The attorney general's go-ahead to enforce reconciliation via licensed preaching makes one wonder if she matriculated in some orthodox Muslim mosque. One would think that modern lawyers, such as Maldives' AG, would consider implied precedents prior to the endorsement of regulations.

With this latest regulation the government is implying that it is punishable under law to offer religious advice unless one has been granted a license. This could imply that children can now take legal actions against over-zealous parents. It should also imply that all Islam teachers should have attained necessary licensing.

Who issues these licenses? One would be inclined to answer 'God.' No, the God-given license to practice and preach religions has now been superseded by a government-issued one. Strange, considering that MoIA is run by supposedly the most devout Muslims in the country.

The world is also being taught a lesson in absolute governance here. Whereas all the leading democracies are trying to find the right premise under which to enforce proactive legal measures against religions Maldives has already established it. So what if it infringes on more basic rights such as freedom of expression? Tough luck.

Remember the entourages complete with tuxedoed officials proudly pointing their noses skywards as they flanked Maumoon during his presidential trips? Remember how every time Maumoon came back from a foreign country the tarmac would be lined with an endless cohort of ministers who always had a smile and a warm handshake? Dear reader, ask yourself why all these accomplices (who were so viscerally pro-Maumoon for the longest time) are now either dropping out of sight or pointing their fingers at Maumoon.

Consider the majority of leading capitalists of Maldives. Remember how everyone would accuse these capitalists of collaborating with the government in amassing their fortunes? Remember how a kith or kin of the president always seemed to be complicit in building these oligarchies? Is it not surprising that these oligarchs are now refusing to defend Maumoon? Even more so that they are accusing the ex-president of corruption (that which they themselves profited from)?

The same old oligarchs are using the spectacle of Maumoon's demise to cover up the corruption they helped seed. The fact is the current government is helping pave the way for the cleansing of the oligarchies by victimizing their old vassal: Maumoon.

Dear reader. Consider your country's future in the hands of a government resorting to quick-fixes and smoke-screen tactics. If you are concerned, demand investigations against all the accomplices of the former government. Give no quarter to anyone who helped the former government enjoy those entourages whilst you had to make do with the most measly of incomes (if you can call it an income at all).

Do not forget to buy a copy of Juke Kartel's Nowhere Left to Hide album (Toby Rand's first!).

Dear reader, you decide if these maps can be labeled 'our interactive atoll maps' by anyone (other than Adobe).

Interesting that this notion was put forth in a 2006 plan (not a 2009 one).

A question has been posed as to the ethical/legal implications of Maumoon's continued involvement in politics. The AG has gone so far as to say “No democratic country allows financial privileges granted to former presidents to be used for political purposes.”

That is a hilarious statement to make considering the self-indictment for utter stupidity. If the AG were keeping up with current affairs he would know about the extent of Bill Clinton's involvement in his wife's campaign. This is what was hinted in the last post, but one reader has failed to understand the obvious interrelation.

The question is, did Bill Clinton refuse to use tax-payer funds for office premises? The answer is no. President Clinton did indeed use state funds to rent an office space with an annual rent of USD 354,000. No one questioned his dedication towards the US when he signed up as 'campaigner-in-chief' for Senator Clinton's campaign.

If the AG prefers a lesser democracy akin to Maldives, then consider Malaysia's Dr. Mahathir's love-hate political stance with regards to Datuk Najib's ascension.

The AG's obsession over the former president brings into question his objectivity and his political motivations.

With regards to the AG's damning of the ex-president's involvement in politics, one recalls Bill Clinton's efforts in pushing his better half's political agenda during the recent US elections.

Another USD 274 million recovered for embezzlement! Now to make the Maldivians forget about the interest on the loans amounting to USD 125 million (!!!) that they will be inheriting.

This is in reply to a few observations made by meekaaku in reply to the last post.

Come the day Christianity ousts Islam in Maldives, the public will have to accept it (this author certainly will). The mosques can be taken down and the Qurans in the libraries replaced with Bibles, but the people will have the right to practice their religions in seclusion (it is a belief system after all, so who can stop people from believing?).

This is the right Christians and people from other religions have. There are plenty of non-Muslims practicing their respective religions in private gatherings. This is not to say that they cannot work towards converting the majority of the country (oppressing these efforts would be tyrannous).

As liberties go, there are few greater than agreeing upon a common belief system which enables optimal communal performance. This liberty was served when the Special Majlis declared Maldives an Islamic state in the new constitution. Consider the consequences of having declared it a Christian state.

Keeping democracy in check is what MoIA and the rest of the government's gestapo-factions are already doing. The Majlis is ineffectual in holding the government accountable because it is constitutionally compromised. The current state of affairs in Maldives can already be summed up as tyrannous. Through this tyranny the government has started seeding the notions of theistic plurality.

Keeping Maldives a Muslim state is being decried by some as a prejudice against the minority of the country. The fact that the vast majority (some would say 100%) of the country's populace are Muslims obviously weighs in on developing the laws and regulations of the country. Questioning this practice is questioning the prudence of democracy itself.

Consider Switzerland, which is one of the world's most revered direct democracies. It is a nation renowned for its tolerance and neutrality. Yet, every now and then the majority exercise their right to rescind that of the minority. A very real example of this is the referendum to ban minarets in Switzerland.

In the same vein, the Maldivian people have a right to refuse the building of churches in the country. They also have the right to ban the public practice of any deistic/theistic beliefs of their choosing. To deny them these rights is to deny them democracy.

Zeitgeist

In a comment made in reply to the last post in this blog, a Mr./Ms. Vaaf raised a few issues. Firstly, with regards to the question of whether the auditor general is pro-MDP, you will have to make this assessment yourself, dear reader. Do so by taking the time to read the latest audit report on Theemuge, and considering who it favours in the run up to the parliamentary elections.

Mr./Ms. Vaaf asks "Do we need those who embezzled for 30 years back in the parliament?" How is the public to know who these individuals are when the AG is dedicated to investigating the former president only? Everyone else referred to in his report is a 'bodu beyfulheh.' This from a report which makes statements on the former president and his wife's apparel habits?

As for the cost of Theemuge (USD 17 million), ask yourself 'why not?', dear reader. This is a palace for the president of Maldives, and not for a blue-collar worker. Also, consider that this palace was built not for Maumoon, but all presidents who are to come. Certainly no parliament member in the Majlis at the time made any objections. Nor did any construction company contracted to build the palace.

Mr./Ms. Vaaf is concerned with the expenses incurred in maintaining the presidential palace of Maldives. What should concern him/her more are expenses like the one chalked up under the title 'public sector investment program' in the government budget. On average over a billion rufiyaa a year was spent from 2006 to 2008 under this category. Question is, how many Maldivians benefited from this program? How many Maldivians can say that any of their capital expenses were refinanced through government aids? If this budget is not drawn from, then why does it keep growing every year?

What of the projects which ran aground? Hulhumale' for instance? Over USD 350 million spent on reclaiming a land which has been left unused for nearly a decade.

So why is Maumoon the root of all evil? And why is it especially so this close to the parliamentary elections? Since the AG's appointment in January 2008 he has failed to extend his investigations beyond Theemuge, Maumoon and his family. It is almost as if he is intent on serving the public's taste for slander.

Once again the auditor general of Maldives is proving to be the trump card in MDP's arsenal. During last year's presidential election the AG released a very timely fiscal report designed to slander the then incumbent government. Since then the AG went dormant whilst the new government delved into the state treasury with gusto.

Now that the parliamentary elections are looming, the AG is once again back to his old tricks. The new accusation is again designed to defame the opposition with the former president as the main target.

Two things are worth noting about this new report. Firstly, some of the figures that it audits are simply minuscule compared to the costs of belly-flopped projects which the public are really interested in (even the AG's salary is more impressive). What of the really big sums which were embezzled by various project managers of the government (most of whom have no relations to Gayoom or any of his kith or kin).

The second concern the report raises is the implied commitment of most of the AG's resources into investigating a fallen leader instead of an empire. The audit report seems to be centered around Maumoon and his personal corruption instead of subjecting the whole system to the test, and thereby holding all who were responsible accountable for their actions.

Is the AG afraid of investigating the former government because the current one comprises of many individuals from the former? Is this why various departments are still being allowed to embezzle their budgets without fear of retribution? Does this explain why no one raised concerns about corruption during the greater part of Maumoon's tenure?

Be it through cowardice or greed, the individuals unto whom the people have delegated administrative authority are repeating the mistakes made by their predecessors. No one seems to have the will to put the people's rights ahead of the government's.

When the news is dubbing Anni the Obama of South Asia, Maldivians have yet to see any real success of his administration. Whilst the real Obama is spinning the minds of activists like Michael Moore with his 'superhero moves', Anni has yet to hold the businesses accountable for their lack of responsibility in developing the industries. Given that Maldives has a capitalist economy (the corruption and rule of power never really hindered the capitalists from becoming oligarchs), its failure should trigger head-hunts by the administration. Has anything happened yet? No.

There was also a promise of liquidation of Maumoon's assets to enrich the government coffers. Yet, the opposite has happened. Muleeaage has been added to the expense sheets of the presidential budget, and additional expense accounts opened for Aa'rah and Theemuge for the so-called 'dignitaries'. Instead of yielding the promised infusion of USD 300 million from liquidations, the government has consumed more than half the reserve that was in the treasury at the start of the year.

The employees of Maldives are no better off. The government went ahead and signed up with ILO but seemed to forget that this was an organization which acts as a mediator and not a problem-solver. The capitalists owning businesses could hardly be bothered as there is nothing that ILO can do to enforce any labour policies unless the government took action. This has led to the increase in strikes resulting in losses to businesses whose survival is crucial for the government's budget (which in turn forces the government to retaliate). There is no clear-cut legal framework governing the process of engagement between employees and employers. As things stand any body of employees can get together and go on strike without notice or intent.

The future of Maldives is bleaker than ever. The ambitious plans of decentralization and universal transport have enormous budgetary conflicts with the reinvigoration of education and lowering the standards of living (increasing the salaries, subsidizing consumer goods and/or controlling inflation are all costly affairs). The government seems to want to tackle everything at the same time without following a systematic prioritized approach. What good will privatizing (and thereby hopefully increasing the quality of) education do if no one can afford it in the end? What would it mean to the long-term cash-flow of the government if huge projects such as universal transportation and decentralization are capitalized with borrowings? Is there really a clever econometric model which supports these administrative decisions? If so, why has the public not seen it, especially given the administration's promise of transparency?

The first quarter of the new government's rule has clearly highlighted its disdain for accountability and sensibility. Its lack of respect for due process and constitutional responsibilities have resulted in gross transgressions such as opening the Majlis for a new term even before the new parliament was elected. Another clear violation by the current government (in light of the new constitution) is the assumption of the responsibility of parliamentary payroll.

The only remedy for the government's failures is the election of strong opposition voices in the parliament. Given that Anni is an established liar (refuting his promise for mid-term elections being the latest one) the people of Maldives will need to ensure that the government they have elected will be kept in check by the parliament they are about to elect. Maldives truly has democracy now. You have the power now, dear reader. Exercise it with all your might.

Maldives looks verged on civil unrest not because of fundamentalism, but due to the anti-religious radicals. Whilst the average Maldivian is idling by (despite the shambolic government), every other anti-religious radical is predicting terrorism to grace the country.

Every time any measure of calamity befalls Maldives, these radicals are out to slay belief systems. These attempts at brainwashing the masses have met with very little reaction, so now they are escalating matters. These radicals are predicting that Maldivians will boil over with religious zest to the point of self-destruction.

This author has a prediction too. All such efforts of these anti-religious radicals will eventually be revealed as false flag operations. Their agenda is to tarnish religions through these. Hence, if an explosive does go off, it will be planted by them no doubt.

meekaaku raises a very good issue in response to the 'e-BULL' post on this blog. How does the government manage to fund failure after failure? Where does the money come from? Can the treasury really say that the budgets dispensed are well-thought-out. Why do international monetary funds keep pumping money into a black-hole? Why is the anti-corruption bodies or the auditor general only publishing politicized investigations whilst avoiding real issues such as wastage in millions of dollars by NCIT and other similar bodies?

Contrary to what some individuals claim, Islam in Maldives is one of the most tolerant in the world. The country hosts a number of she-males and not once has the public cried out for their heads. It has a few writers who have published dissertations on taboo subject-matter and they still live peacefully there. When a person steals, hands aren't decapitated. When a person commits adultery, he/she isn't stoned to death. When gang-fights erupt, the citizenry doesn't join in.

Maldives HAS evolved. It has learned to let the rule of law dictate justice. It is a civil society which puts its trust in the government to conduct the affairs of the state.

What of child abuse you ask, dear reader? Remedying cowardice is a responsibility unto all of us. If you know cases of child abuse and/or incest (lets face it, there is more of the latter than the former in Maldives) you have to report them to the authorities, with or without the subjects' approvals. Failure to do so makes one an accomplice.

Failure to bring paedophiles to justice is not God's failure (whichever religion you subscribe to, dear reader). It is a failure of the investigative bodies and the judiciary. The failure to impose relevant sentencing is again not God's failure. It is the failure of the legislative body (the lethargic Majlis). The failure to empower the relevant bodies in enhancing and enacting child-protection frameworks is not related in any way to the beliefs of the people. That is a failure of the government and its leadership (then AND now).

Dear reader, have you visited the Maldives e-government website? If not please do so. Not that what you will see there is altogether fascinating - after all failure to test implementations is second-nature to any government undertaking.

The site is open for public browsing it would seem. However, if you click on any of the links under the 'Browse By Subject' section, you get a highly desirable IIS security settings error. Go to the 'Job Opportunities' link at the very bottom and the listing shows the only categories that are available are 'Name of Job Category' and organizations available are 'Name of Organization'. There are freelance software developers in Maldives, motivated by a few grand, with more rigorous testing schemes. How NCIT failed so hilariously, despite the backing of USD 3.3 million, is beyond anyone.

The lack of insights into engineering life-cycles aside, the whole concept of e-whatever has been lost on NCIT. Go to the page where you register an account and scroll down to the very bottom and you will see the the statement 'Please bring along your Identity card and proceed to the below ministries for verification after the registration'. e-WHAT?!!! The USD 5.3 million spent on installing fibre-optic networks in-between the various government bodies obviously did not help connect their systems.

As for the information presentation schemes, there are websites developed by 5-year-olds which are faster and more navigable. These 5-year-olds do not use the boring web-1.0 chutzpa. They resort to more presentable and trendy interfaces, via AJAX, Flash, (at least) DHTML and what-not. Whoever hired the designer for the clunky interface on the e-gov website should be shot dead for deliberately wasting the people's money (most probably under the influence of nepotism).

This whole e-government ruckus is a complete failure. It has done nothing but waste precious time, money, resources and real-estate (it would have been better for the government to open a brewery at the premises of NCIT - more returns). This is what happens when you charge clueless novices with responsibilities beyond their capabilities. One would think that experimenting over a 5-year period (5 YEARS on this rubbish end-result?!!!) would help them attain better insights (how long does a monkey take to match shapes, anyone?). Faaig, it is time for you to stick your thumb in your rear-end and declare yourself a dunce.

PS. The citizens.gov.mv website was checked by the author on 2nd April 2009. There is the possibility that NCIT may take up arms and rectify their failures before too long (although there is every guarantee that that may not happen).