Cold feet in the atoll

In January 2005, the Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom promised his country a new Constitution by the beginning of the following year. At that time, President Gayoom had ruled the Maldives since 1978 – seventy percent of the country's years of independence – but had been increasingly pressured into initiating an agenda of democratic reform. Not only is the new Constitution nowhere to be seen, but the country now seems more mired in political stagnation than anytime in recent years. The impasse comes after 2005 saw a significant swell in opposition to the president. Observers are warning that the archipelago could see grave socio-political crises, if promised democratic reforms are not delivered immediately.

Last year's momentum initially crested with the Parliament's unanimous decision to officially register political parties. Within months of the June vote green-lighting the move towards multi-party democracy, however, the government began to backtrack – particularly with regard to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the first to gain the numbers necessary to register. Incidents from that period continue to reverberate six months later. On 5 August 2005, the newly-official MDP submitted to government officials and Commonwealth mediators a plan on how to move the Maldives towards democratisation. The MDP memorandum began with the warning that the country was "on the verge of a popular uprising that can turn events either way: violent or peaceful." Among its demands were moves to increase governmental transparency, and a more equitable composition of the Parliament and Constitutional Assembly (the People's Majlis and People's Special Majlis, respectively), thereby decreasing President Gayoom's personal power over these assemblies' machinations and decisions. The given timeframe was within 30 to 60 days from 12 August.
Just one week later, 12 August was the one-year anniversary of what has become known as 'Black Friday', when security forces had confronted a record-sized public gathering in Male, arresting hundreds for calling on the president to resign. To commemorate the date the following year, MDP Chairman Mohamed Nasheed held a vigil in the capital; there, he was quickly arrested by riot police, a move initially explained as being for his own safety. After hundreds more were imprisoned while condemning the detention, Nasheed – who had returned from exile only months earlier – was eventually charged with sedition and terrorism.