When I was 18 the greatest concerns in my life were dating girls, avoiding calls from my family, thinking up excuses to skip classes at college and constantly procrastinating when it came to all the important things in life. Aside from my immediate friends (and this would be for the very selfish reason of preserving the friendships I relied upon) I cared very little for others.

To be honest, I've only started to recognize my duties to my fellow-countrymen (that's meant to sound bombastic, FYI) only after articles like these started popping up in Maldivian media. What about the article, you ask? That a hitherto respected component of the Maldivian media should be so biased is what gets to me.

It is almost as if the Minivan News team has become the public relations 'boom-box' (I wanted to use a more savvy term, but none so appropriate popped into mind) for the political left wing. Why? Because I have not seen a single article on Minivan News which comprehensively presents ALL the consequences and repercussions (both pro AND con), on the matter of lowering the voting age to 18 years.

You might think me harsh, but I feel Minivan News has overlooked the fact that the overall social awareness of Maldivians are generally lower than that of other countries - let alone the populace between the age of 18 and 21. That in the last 10 years the education in the country has degraded beyond that of most regional neighbors. That, despite the latter, the country's budget has not apportioned an account for the development of educational and social development programs - while it does surprisingly SPECIFY an account of over 95 million US dollars, over 10% of the total budget, for something literally called 'expenses for economic welfare.' If I were a betting man, I would put a wager on the hunch that a thorough analysis of the adolescents (between ages 18 and 21, specifically) of the country would probably show a decline in their productivity and potential over the last 10 years. Given this, why would you endorse a bill that will put additional pressure on the most vital resources of the nation before they are prepared to undertake the task?

Dear readers, I ask you this: is it not important for the eligible voters of an institution to be aware of (and whole-heartedly welcome) their responsibilities? Should not the educational programs of a country be at par with those of United Kingdom and the United States before we follow their stead in empowering the people (after all, even in their case, education and social awareness preceded the empowerment)? Shouldn't Minivan News be crusading on the subject of education and social awareness before the age of voting? Or is it not responsible, as an entity of Maldivian media, for creating unabridged (and not propagandist) awareness amongst the people on such matters as this minimum voting age dilemma?

To no one in particular: I was surprised to see one of my articles on factmaldives.com, which wasn't altogether thrilling for me. However, this article I hope will be published by just about anyone who wants to!

The purported leader of the greater opposition, Anni, was first given an opportunity to make changes from within the government - an opportunity that few of us could ever dream of attaining. We're talking about being elected as member of parliament representing the capital city, Male', of Maldives. At his beck and call were most leading capitalists of the nation. So too were the majority of the grass-root people of the nation. How one squanders such an opportunity by jumping head-on into an obvious pitfall amazes me.

There was one missed opportunity, but that wasn't the end of it. With the emergence of MDP as the backlash to an outcry against police brutality, Anni was yet again presented with a non-statutory power gifted him by the vast majority of the country. His was the responsibility of leading his supporters into an era of 'legislative equivalence.' I have seen nothing on offer by the MDP except the semblance of a platform for free speech.

The one thing MDP did achieve were the majority of seats in parliament (at one point in time), an achievement which must, in all honesty, be attributed to the capitalists aligned in the cause (some of these capitalists were to later find MDP's stance overly aggressive causing the dilution of their initial resolve). Even with this opportunity no real efforts were made in changing the laws which sanctified the police brutality (a failure attributable to the enigmatic leader of MDP?). No efforts were made in making the public aware of the importance of changing law, rather than toppling one or two figure-heads.

Now, when all else has failed, it's back to vociferations against prime targets in the hope of engineering hatred against them amongst the public (which might certainly be a fruitful endeavor, but only to the extent of strengthening the various leaderships' collective resolve to crack down on the negative publicity). The Rodney King incident should remind us that the problem is not only lackadaisical leadership, but also the legal systems governing their efforts. With the right kind of post-arrest inquisitions and actions, I am certain the police elements who physically interface with the people will put more thought into their actions. Furthermore, the right kind of law would force the leadership to adopt a more responsible and accountable role (whether it be the current leaders or the likes of Anni at the helm).

I say more effort must go into forcing the leadership to divulge and amend the law than into trying to topple them by verbal abuse (if there has ever been such a phenomenon in the history of modern politics). MDP should eke out the various shortcomings in current law and generate awareness amongst the people with regards to these. It's not Anni's opinions about law that counts, but the public opinion. As a wannabe leader, it is Anni's job to empower the people, not to use the people's support to empower himself.

Anni, old chap. Teach the public how important it is for their representatives in parliament to be answerable to them. Teach them what legal avenues can be pursued if such accountability is not there. Teach them how to be CITIZENS!