The Greek Myth of Cassandra states that she was gifted
with seeing future by Apollo, but was later cursed when she refused the
romantic advances of Apollo. Her curse was, no one would believe in her. Hence,
Cassandra Dilemma arises when someone does not believe in the looming threats
and challenges.
Back in 2013, before president Yameen was nominated as
the presidential candidate of PPM, one hardcore activist from the party asked
me whether Yameen is a good choice. I responded saying “if he becomes the
president, corruption will become rampant”. He agreed to some extent, but then
the semi ironical loyalists of PPM, like him, had no clue of Yameen’s political
project. Most people did not believe that Yameen was a Trojan Horse who would
destroy rule of law and democracy. Even the fiercest critics of him like Umar
Naseer never imagined the ferocity of his political project then.
Yameen’s political project began with the
establishment of People’s Alliance Party backed by corporate elitists, close
friends and business partners of him.
Adheeb, then a young aspiring fresh graduate, working in the Maldives
Chamber of Commerce, soon caught the eyes of Yameen. Adheeb was one among a
group of educated young people, Yameen gathered to work, in what he called as a
“Think Tank”. Adheeb soon became the right-hand of Yameen and began working for
Yameen’s political project. When the 2012 Coup led to the overthrow of
Nasheed’s government and the incumbent Vice President, Waheed took over the
government, Yameen began advancing his political project.
Yameen became one of the strongest influencers of
Waheed’s government through Adheeb who had a strong foot hold in Waheed’s
Cabinet. Adheeb also turned Waheed's government in to Yameen’s handmaiden, exercising
overwhelming authority over the government, judiciary and parliament through
the mentorship of Yameen. In the silence before the Storm of 2013 election,
Adheeb also won the hearts and minds of several influential businessmen by
negotiating favors for them within Waheed’s government. He also garnered
support from international investors through shady deals, by leasing islands to
various investors. This resulted in the flow of outrageous amounts of money to
Yameen’s political project via Adheeb. This was admitted by Yameen in his
recent press conference by revealing his outrage over the muddling of his own
piggy bank. With the corporate money pouring in, and the parliament, judiciary
and police blemished with a deteriorated image, because of 2012 coup, became
easy targets to be groomed and allured in to Yameen’s political project. Money
and influence boosted his political project, making him the ultimate winner of
2103 election, stirred by Police and Supreme Court.
Proof of the premise of the sinister political project
of Yameen came to limelight within the first year of his government. Auditor
General Niyaz uncovered a huge corruption scandal of Adheeb. However, the audit
report was hijacked and swept under the carpet by the President, and the
parliament backed by him dismissed Niyaz from his post. Almost half way through
Yameen’s presidency, the Maldives saw yet another corruption scandal, the
largest in the nation’s history. The semi ironic loyal supporters of Yameen,
however, blames Adheeb as the sole proprietor, perpetrator and beneficiary of
the billion Rufiyaa scandal. Nonetheless, Adheeb has recently revealed
President and First Lady were the major beneficiaries of all alleged
corruptions he committed. Additionally, the changes to public finance act, as
well as his blatant remarks favoring selling of land to foreigners raises
ethical questions over his political agenda.
While many who helped Yameen to rise to power now see that he was in
fact a Trojan Horse, Maldives continues sinking inexorably in to a full-fledged
dictatorship.
The government of Yameen controls both the judiciary
and parliament. The whole public sphere is eroded in to a wreckage of a
cesspool, and integrity of every single independent institution has been
compromised. The public sphere was wrecked through bribes, fear and
intimidation. Examples of this includes alleged bribing of judges, murder of an
MP, disappearance of a journalist and recent killing of a blogger. More recent
examples include, controversial transfer of judges by Judicial Service
Commission, fines imposed to broadcasters and curtailing of freedom of
expression, raising further ethical questions on Yameen’s political agenda.
Gayoom having a desire to leave a legacy of a national
hero, by throwing away the excess baggage of his dictatorship saw a window of
opportunity to make his wrongs right. With the events unfolding and with the
support from his son in parliament and other loyalists, Gayoom began advancing
a political agenda of his own. Though the premise of his political agenda is
yet to unfold, he collaborated with the opposition, led by Nasheed and people
obliterated by Yameen, in the hope of saving the nation.
The current saga of impeaching the speaker of
parliament marks the beginning of the first blow to weaken Yameen’s power and
strangle his political machinery. On the brink of losing his majority in
Parliament, Yameen quickly resorted to the Supreme Court, romancing with him
since 2013 election. Prominent lawyers have started ringing alarm bells, indicating
the Constitution is now abrogated by the opening of a can of worms by the
Attorney General. Proof of the premise of Yameen’s political project in
destroying the democratic governance and rule of law has become evident from
the collusion of the bench and other state bodies. To quote from Dame Sian Elias
words, one can say, Maldives is ruled by rules but not rule of law. “Tyranny,
arbitrariness and spite has perverted rule of law”. Despite this, ironical
loyalists’, sympathizers and well-wishers of Yameen continue to believe
criticism of the president is invalid and flawed. They continue to promote his
brand of “shameless” while deceiving the public within a smoke screen of his
mega development projects labelled by many as corruption scandals.
Gayoom, frustrated for being sidelined from the
government brought through his support, denounced Yameen regarding the changes
to the Constitution and Laws, questioning his loyalty. Even though Gayoom could
convince his loyalists that, Yameen is a Trojan Horse who would destroy the
nation, he has fallen to a Cassandra Dilemma. On the contrary, Yameen has
fallen in to a different Casandra Dilemma by refusing to accept the weakening
of his power and loss of popularity both inside and outside the Maldives.
While the “Right Brothers” who turned in to “Wrong
Brothers” fell in to a Cassandra Dilemma, the Opposition coalition too has fallen
in to it. They have fallen in to a conundrum of believing in finding a solution
from the system. However, the opposition
must fight an upheaval battle to convince the political machinery of the State
on the erosion of the rule of law and the sinister political agenda of
Yameen. The critical challenge for them
is in salvaging the wrecked public sphere, especially the independent
institutions romancing with the executive. What’s fascinating about the dilemma
is the curse of “no one would believe” in anyone.
Yameen’s political project has degraded the whole
public sphere in to such a cesspool, the public is dismayed by the awe and
irony of the destructive political game destroying the nation. People have
started seeing the “government as the problem". For the opposition and
rest of the public, it has become a wild goose chase, making their strategies
to weaken Yameen futile. The chaotic bricolage of his shenanigans has created a
deadlock within the whole system. As said by Rudiger Dornbusch, "things
take longer to happen than you think they will, and then they happen faster
than you thought they could" and the public is hoping to see some change.
