Selling paradise for a song

Sanjay Kapoor
Editor, Hardnews Magazine. He was in Male recently.

LAST week's order of the Maldives Supreme Court has sent this tiny island nation into a tizzy. The court's order to release opposition leaders jailed on charges of corruption and terrorism would be challenged by the government of President Yameen Abdul Gayoom. But this could be a game changer although the elections are still a few months away. 

India and some other countries have welcomed the apex court's ruling and sought its implementation. But the Maldivian government smells a big power conspiracy: decks would be clear for former President Nasheed, who is in exile, and other barred opposition figures to contest the polls later this year. 

The directive comes a few days after the joint opposition filed a petition demanding the temporary removal of the President on charges of dipping his hands into government coffers. 

Parliament can remove the President in the Maldives but the opposition claims that Yameen has made the Majlis irrelevant by interfering in its functioning. The Supreme Court is yet to admit this petition but there is hope that the free run of President Yameen, sustained till now by unaccountable large investments by Chinese and Saudi governments, may come to an end. 

For its puny size, this island nation punches much above its weight because its location makes it susceptible to political and big power contestation. The capital, Male, is a city of quaint, winding lanes but has seen serious political churn ever since democracy dawned in 2008. Successive presidents and the ruling parties have collided with the judiciary to mark out their respective turfs. The Maldives is also a majority Sunni country, which is increasingly getting radicalised. Some 200 Maldivians have seen action in Syria. 

In 2013, President Nasheed paid heavily for arresting a judge. He lost the elections and was embroiled on charges of terrorism that fetched him a 13-year sentence. The mediation of England, India and US helped him escape into exile to London. Since then, he has mounted a serious international campaign to de-legitimise the government of President Yameen, half-brother of the longest-serving President of the Maldives, Abdul Gayoom. 

Both sides will pay through their nose for the legal battle. Nasheed has Amal Clooney, wife of celebrity-actor George Clooney, as his lawyer while the Maldivian government is represented by Cherie Blair, wife of the former Prime Minister of England, Tony Blair. 

Meanwhile, President Yameen has tried to consolidate his regime by throwing out 12 MPs and many others who resented his wilful grant of contracts. A former Speaker of the Majlis, Hamid Abdullah, told this writer last week that Maldivians have no clue about the national debt or projects allocated to China. He attributed much of this corruption to investment by Chinese companies without really bothering about conducting due diligence about the country's ability to repay. He also described the FTA between China (a $12 trillion economy) and the Maldives ($ 1.2 bn annual budget) as totally lopsided. The outcome of this relationship would be that the Maldives would lose its sovereignty and allow China to access not just this archipelago's riches but also control the Indian Ocean's sea lanes. This ought to hurt Delhi. 

Yameen is also being accused of serious financial misdemeanours: How he hiked the contract to an Indian company from $500 million to $1.2 billion. A bridge being built by a Chinese company to connect Male and the airport is said to be similarly overinflated. 

The Supreme Court's order may well be the beginning of a greater scrutiny by Maldives opposition forces of how this lovely paradise has been sold for a song.