Is Mr. Nasheed's Presidency Legal?

Picture by courtesy of Maldives Police

The question of the Legality of Mohamed Nasheed’s Presidency has become significant of late. There is a case in the Supreme Court, and many intellectuals in Maldives are murmuring about this.

The truth of the matter however is, he was elected as president by the people. How then can his Presidency be anything but a legal? To probe into the case we looked at the Constitution of the Maldives that was ratified in 2008. I reserve judgment, but am posting the relevant pages from the Constitution of Maldives. You decide !!

The Chapter on the Presidency: vis-a-vis "Chapter IV" page 36 and 37 of the Functional Translation of the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives 2008 by Ms. Dheena Hussain LLB.(Hons), (Birmingham), LLM. (London), Barrister-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn)

You can download these pages and see it more clearly.
Now let's look at the actual Dhivehi Version of the Constitution of the Maldives. Again, download the two pages and read it yourself. If you don't read Dhivehi, the English Functional Transation was done at the request of the Ministry of Legal Reform, Information and Art. (This Ministry does not exist anymore, Mr. Nasheed abolished this Ministry and amulgamated the Information and Arts function with the Ministry of Tourism. The Legal Reform? ofcourse he dumped that. He believed that by him being elected as President "Legal Reform " was done. Eh!!

I don't claim to be the "Expert" in Dhivehi Language, but I sure know my mother tongue, and I know English. Let's say I see my dreams in English. Again "Not the Expert". I have to take my hats off to Ms. Dheena Hussain !!!.. heheh. She has done a marvelous job. It's word to word and the English Functional Translation of the Constitution of Maldives does convey the meaning and spirit of the same written Dhivehi (the Original).

I asked myself; What about these articles in the Maldivian Constitution, and how could one question the legality of an elected President. hehehe

Here's what happenned. The sooner the New Constitution of 2008 was drafted and ratified, it's fundermentals were compromised in an "One last attempt" to sustain the dictatorship that had lasted for 25 years. His was more of an ego issue than anything else. Here's the truth which Mr. Gayoom (ex-President of Maldives) will swear is a blatent lie.

The New Constitution very clearly states "Any one ever been convicted of an offence for which a Hadd is prescribed in Islam or of fraud, deception or criminal breach of trust should not be accepted to stand for election as President of Maldives"

In the Parliamentary Elections of 2000, Mr. Mohamed Nasheed ran for one of the two seats in the Male Constituency and won one seat. In this election he challenged Mr. Abdulla Kamaaludeen (Maumoon's Man) and Mr. Illyas Ibrahim (Maumoon's Brother-in-Law). AK as he was popularly known, lost to Mr. Nasheed. Nasheed was a Member of the Parliament for Male.

I would be happy to believe that it was a young man in his zeal obviously suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder syndrome popularly know as "Kleptomania". But the courts in Maldives sentenced his for theft and robbery. According to Islamic Shariya, Theft and Robbery is an offence for which a Haddh is prescribed.

In liberal Maldives, although the Haddh is not implemented, clearly Mr. Nasheed had committed a offence for which Haddh is prescribed in Islamic Shariyah. Now that according to Chapter IV Article 109 of the Constitution of Maldives is sufficient to disqualify any bid for Presidency of Maladives ever.

How then did Nasheed manage to get himself smuggled through to be the President of Maldives? He didn't. Read about it all in the Part II

... /to be continued in "The Artful Dodger Part II of Is Mr. Nasheed's Presidency Legal?"

Is Corruption in Maldives?

Whoever you talk to, newspaper you read or TV news bulletin, local talk shows you listen to, you don’t escape the word “Corruption” in the Maldives today. Everybody is talking about corruption. It has become the most spoken about subject and mentioned word today. So I ask myself, what the F**k is corruption? Is it become a fashionable word to use in conversation? Does it make your vocabulary sound rich? IDK!!


To get an insight into this phenomenon, I did some research, did some reading, and referred to dictionaries, blogs, technical papers, and documentation on the subject. Surprisingly, corruption is in the Maldives, and it’s true! There is so much corruption here; that from the President himself to possibly every responsible citizen of this country has to begin work now, to eradicate its consequences on ourselves and on this country.


I found Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes corruption as:
1. Impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: DEPRAVITY
2. DECAY, DECOMPOSITION
3. Inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery)
4. A departure from the original or from what is pure or correct.


Volumes and volumes of documentation and an array of descriptions are available on this dreaded and despised phenomenon. “So what is corruption?”

1. Corruption is lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery) it is the use of a position of trust for dishonest gain.
2. Corruption is destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity; "corruption of a minor"; "
3. Corruption is inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony);
4. Corruption or bastardization is a way of referring to certain changes in a language. The most common way that a word can be said to be corrupted is the change of its spelling through errors and gradual changes in comprehension, transcription, and hearing.
5. Corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain.
6. Corruption is misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality.
7. Corruption is debauch; "leading astray the young people with wine and women"; "Socrates was accused of corrupting young men"; "Do school counselors subvert young children?"
Google Dictionary description is very clear and straightforward it says:
1. Corruption is dishonesty and illegal behavior by any person or people in positions of authority or power.
2. In linguistics, a corruption is a word that is derived from an earlier word, but which has become changed in some way.

I am now more than ever convinced that corruption is endemic in Maldives in epidemic proportions. It is good that we talk about corruption openly these days. Talking about it provides a platform for the politicians, independent institutions, journalists and our civil society to agree to work towards stamping out corruption. But agreeing on exactly “what is meant by corruption” is what some of us may never agree, and it is the million dollar question.


Everything that translate as “Bad things” like Bribery, extortion, fraud, trafficking of any kind, Homosexuality, embezzlement, defaming, bastardization, debauching, deviation from an ideal, Misuse of government power, Repression of political opponents, use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain, silencing of dissent, undermining moral integrity and honesty are all corruption. Nepotism and cronyism are also manifestations of it.


Corruption forms into varying types and degrees; most notable are Political, Financial, and Social corruption. It distinguishes between “petty” corruption and “grand” corruption. These distinctions however, should not imply that some types and degrees of corruption are worse than others.
Whatever form it takes, corruption is always a two-way transaction; it requires a supply side (the briber) and a demand side (the one who receives the bribe). In our quest to understand corruption, we must not make a distinction to both sides of the corruption equation.


Political corruption is the subject of particular interest in Maldives today. It has been a fact of life for thousands of years, beginning with the first attempts at a democratic form of government in ancient Greece and Rome. The seeds of political corruption were planted as soon as the senators and other political leaders realized that power and wealth could be equals. Political corruption often begins with favoritism towards those with wealth and influence.


Interestingly, in 18th century England, Political corruption meant the encroachment by the executive on the legislature, for instance by money payments, the offer of positions and pensions, and the trading of patronage. Corruption was the violation of the principle of constitutional "checks and balances", authoritarian tendencies and the subsequent decay of the political order.


Political corruption is the abuse of entrusted power by political leaders for private gain, with the objective of increasing power and or wealth. Political corruption may, but need not involve money changing hands; it may take the form of ‘trading in influence’ or granting favors and or illegal and summary arrests of political opponents that are often viewed as a threat to the ruling class or party. In a transitional and developing democracy such as ours, political corruption threatens the very viability of democracy, and makes it’s civil and independent institutions vulnerable.


We cannot afford the social, political or economic costs corruption entails. It respects no borders, knows no economic distinctions and infects all forms of governments and people without exception. It erodes public confidence in political institutions and leads to contempt for the rule of law. Corruption exacts an incredibly high price on the poor by denying them access to vital basic services.


Total eradication may by impossible though desirable. However, curtailing and chilling corruption is an imperative and must be perused vigorously. Perusing corruption must be perceived as an act of cleansing not vengeance. It has to be applied with purpose and without exemption. It has to begin with one’s own self. One cannot remain a corrupt person and work to eradicate it, that’s pretending. That is a corrupt act. You must be clean to fight corruption.