The Parliament
house of Maldives called Majilis is a majestic piece of architecture situated
in the heart of Henveyru ward in Male’, surrounded by gates and a well-manicured
garden. Fatefully it is situated in the old Bandeyrige compound known famously
as Hakuraa Fiyaa, situated near Sikkage, where I spend a few years of my
teenage days. Sikkagey Mohamed Manikfaan , my Dhonbeybey used to tell me a bit
of history of the place and how elitists rob Bandeyrige from time to time using
their influence.
The Bandeyrige has been used to store food and other materials owned by the government during the Monarchy and yester years of Independence. Sometimes one can even wonder whether this location makes people who get elected to parliament, fantasizing going in to a treasure well to dig gold. Paradoxically their fantasies become true as they become richest elitists of the nation instantly. They gain this wealth not entirely from their lavish salaries, but also through infamous bidding process they conduct during their voting for major Bills, often selling vote to highest bidder. More irony lies in the name of the building depicted in the very high walls of it as the People’s Majilis. Sometimes one can wonder whether it is a People’s Majilis or a treasure chest of those who sit inside on those seats just to warm it.
The Bandeyrige has been used to store food and other materials owned by the government during the Monarchy and yester years of Independence. Sometimes one can even wonder whether this location makes people who get elected to parliament, fantasizing going in to a treasure well to dig gold. Paradoxically their fantasies become true as they become richest elitists of the nation instantly. They gain this wealth not entirely from their lavish salaries, but also through infamous bidding process they conduct during their voting for major Bills, often selling vote to highest bidder. More irony lies in the name of the building depicted in the very high walls of it as the People’s Majilis. Sometimes one can wonder whether it is a People’s Majilis or a treasure chest of those who sit inside on those seats just to warm it.
If one can step
inside this Majestic Building and listen and watch the rants, tantrums, abuse
and often rare fruitful discussions one can easily notice the dominant position
of the Majilis over the People and their partiality and prejudice for Presdient Yamin Abdul Gayoom.
In the life of the Majilis there has been no instances of it becoming independent from the executive except during the “unfortunate” period of the first
democratically elected government when they lost majority. Hence it has always acted as a rubber stamp
for the executive except for the 2008 to 2012 period. It has always been used
as a deception to show to people their leader as a genuine honest person working for their
betterment. However, the perks of it being used as a rubber stamp has never
been more blatant than the current period beginning from 2104. Some MPs proudly
inform the PEOPLE, how they work with the speed of light in
passing the bills. Their efficiency can only be compared to superheroes. The
Speaker is the most crucial player in this respected place and is often referred to as
the alpha male of the menagerie of monkeys.
The speaker has
the sole authority on what comes to the floor of the Majilis. He can throw away
anything out of the floor if he feels it unwarranted or is against his masters will, like yesterday’s
bread. He can reduce discussion time for
bills for any member as he wishes or increase time as he wishes. He can be said
as the Pied Piper of the presdient luring his “rats” in to the abyss.
However, after the long cold boring winter of rubber stamping, the People began seeing some changes. Some of the Gold Diggers finally have realized they are being lured in to the abyss by a Pied Piper and sinking inexorably. Hence they wanted to turn away from the Pied Piper and push the Pied Piper in to the sea. The sly fox has referred to this as Slaughter of his loyal sheep or rather the fox he kept guised as a sheep. They have even realized their Gold-Digging Seats are at stake as the naïve public shows signs of dismay and disapproval for their constant ignorance of People’s needs. Public opinion polls finally began showing frustration and despair for the very people sititng inside the Majestic place in their name. The last couple of days the social media pages in the country and twitter accounts are buzzing with words like “clean the Majilis” and for some people opinions on check and balance became news like "men biting dogs".
Suddenly, some of the elected MPs seems to realize that they need to serve people and the Gold they have dug all this time is going to devour them. They have started realizing their ill-gotten wealth can be confiscated and they may inherit a jail cell instead of the castle they have been building from that. Their fear has started becoming real as the young generation who will vote in coming elections started being more vocal and concerned. The public has never become more agitated or angered by the notoriety of their representatives than the current times. People have even kept themselves awake with probabilistic statistical analyses. They have started listing the bad Eggs who must be egged in the next election to be held in 2019. In Coffee tables and smoke breaks people started talking more about the disgust of the "Majestic" Majilis. People started Viber groups and begun calling and asking their MPs to represent them or dare face them in 2019. This morning I woke up and saw on my phone a Viber group urging my MP to shorten her official visit to the States and return to Maldives. Moreover, the public is recieving social media doses of the leaked audios, videos and materials stipulating the illegal transactions of some MPs fuelling their anger and dismay.
However, after the long cold boring winter of rubber stamping, the People began seeing some changes. Some of the Gold Diggers finally have realized they are being lured in to the abyss by a Pied Piper and sinking inexorably. Hence they wanted to turn away from the Pied Piper and push the Pied Piper in to the sea. The sly fox has referred to this as Slaughter of his loyal sheep or rather the fox he kept guised as a sheep. They have even realized their Gold-Digging Seats are at stake as the naïve public shows signs of dismay and disapproval for their constant ignorance of People’s needs. Public opinion polls finally began showing frustration and despair for the very people sititng inside the Majestic place in their name. The last couple of days the social media pages in the country and twitter accounts are buzzing with words like “clean the Majilis” and for some people opinions on check and balance became news like "men biting dogs".
Suddenly, some of the elected MPs seems to realize that they need to serve people and the Gold they have dug all this time is going to devour them. They have started realizing their ill-gotten wealth can be confiscated and they may inherit a jail cell instead of the castle they have been building from that. Their fear has started becoming real as the young generation who will vote in coming elections started being more vocal and concerned. The public has never become more agitated or angered by the notoriety of their representatives than the current times. People have even kept themselves awake with probabilistic statistical analyses. They have started listing the bad Eggs who must be egged in the next election to be held in 2019. In Coffee tables and smoke breaks people started talking more about the disgust of the "Majestic" Majilis. People started Viber groups and begun calling and asking their MPs to represent them or dare face them in 2019. This morning I woke up and saw on my phone a Viber group urging my MP to shorten her official visit to the States and return to Maldives. Moreover, the public is recieving social media doses of the leaked audios, videos and materials stipulating the illegal transactions of some MPs fuelling their anger and dismay.
Isn’t it time the
MPs realize they are elected by People to represent the people and not to serve the President blindly.
Isn’t it time You show honesty and integrity.
Isn’t
it time You say I’m working for People’s interest and
Not in the interest of the President.
Not in the interest of the President.
Isn’t
it time You realize people are not dumb or blind.
Isn’t
it time You appreciate, People do hard work and pay taxes so that,
You
can have the best food on Your table,
The
best health care for You and Your family,
The
best education for Your kids and
The
most expensive material wealth for You to enjoy.
Listen to us and our plea.
Look
at the suffering of ordinary people
Begging
the elitists for housing and welfare.
Why
do you make us beg while you enjoy our sweat and labour!
