Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO164
2004-01-28 10:19:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Maldivian Democratic Party organizers harshly

Tags:  PGOV PINS PHUM SOCI PINR MV 
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281019Z Jan 04
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000164 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, DRL/CRA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01-28-14
TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM SOCI PINR MV
SUBJECT: Maldivian Democratic Party organizers harshly
criticize President Gayoom in meetings with emboffs

Refs: 03 Colombo 2201, and previous

(U) Classified by Bruce Lohof, Acting Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000164

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, INR/NESA, DRL/CRA

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01-28-14
TAGS: PGOV PINS PHUM SOCI PINR MV
SUBJECT: Maldivian Democratic Party organizers harshly
criticize President Gayoom in meetings with emboffs

Refs: 03 Colombo 2201, and previous

(U) Classified by Bruce Lohof, Acting Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Conoffs and Poloff recently held
separate meetings with organizers for the Maldivian
Democratic Party (MDP). Both men harshly criticized
President Gayoom's government and advocated the creation
of a multi-party system in the Maldives (political
parties are currently not allowed). The MDP appears to
be increasingly active as an organization, indicating
that discomfort with Gayoom's long rule may be growing.
The fact that a high-level GoRM official attended
Conoffs' meeting with the MDP leader was also
potentially telling. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) MEETING WITH MDP LEADER: On January 21, Conoffs
met Ali Didi, the recently appointed head of the
Maldivian Bureau of Penitentiaries and Rehabilitation,
who was on a visit to Colombo. Accompanying Didi to the
meeting, unexpectedly, was Mohammed Nasheed, the head of
the MDP (see background in Para 6),who gave emboffs a
brief readout of the party's history and platform.
After September 11, 2001, Nasheed claimed that there had
been a spurt in the number of Maldivian Islamic
extremists active in the Maldives, especially in the
more remote atolls. Nasheed said the MDP wanted to
counter the dangers of a possible fundamentalist
backlash with democratic thought and representation,
which he said was sorely lacking under "the repressive
(President) Gayoom regime." Nasheed also expressed
concern over the large number of Maldivian youth who he
said were tired of repression, but, lacking a democratic
option, might turn to fundamentalism. Nasheed stated
that the MDP did not want to overthrow the Gayoom
regime, but rather wanted to create a multi-party
democratic system, which the Maldivian Constitution
provides for but has not yet been realized in practice.


3. (C) Nasheed emphasized to Conoffs that he felt the
MDP had a solid window of opportunity to influence the

GoRM. The government, he said, was very worried in the
aftermath of rioting in the capital of Male' in
September 2003 following prison violence on a nearby
island (see Reftels). Nasheed saw this rioting as an
example of burgeoning unrest brought on by repression
under Gayoom and thought the incident highlighted the
need for democratic political participation.


4. (C) While Nasheed was discussing the MDP and making
anti-Gayoom comments, Didi -- who is a high-level GoRM
official personally appointed by the president --
listened carefully and did not object. It was not
clear, but it appears that Nasheed and Didi are related.
Didi gave no indication that he was a member of the MDP,
but he did say that he thought there needed to be
political change in the Maldives.


5. (C) KEY ORGANIZER'S COMMENTS: In an earlier
meeting, poloff met with Mohammed Latheef, a high-level
organizer for the MDP (see background para below),on
January 8. This meeting also took place in Colombo.
Latheef recounted his hopes for the MDP, saying that he
wanted the group "to bring human rights to the
Maldives." He went on to lambaste Maldivian President
Gayoom, who he said had a "Baathist mentality" and "beat
the stuffing out of his citizens." Latheef asserted
that there had been a groundswell of support for the MDP
in the Maldives, particularly since the September 2003
rioting in Male'. He had "no doubt" there would be more
violence in the Maldives if Gayoom
-- who he said was "very sick" (NFI) -- did not leave
power or failed to at the minumum increase
democratization. Turning to the group's political
prospects, Latheef predicted that if the party were
allowed to register in the Maldives, there would be a
large number of people rushing to join. There was "no
way" Gayoom could stand against the MDP in free and fair
elections, he averred.


6. (C) ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The Maldivian Democratic
Party (MDP) was founded in embryonic form in 2001 when a
group of about 40 Maldivians, including former and
current members of the Maldivian Majlis (Parliament),
petitioned to register the group as a political party in
the Maldives. The petition was rejected by the Majlis
after the GoRM reiterated that political parties would
not be allowed to form in the country. Since that time,
the two main organizers of the party, Mohammed Nasheed
and Mohammed Latheef, were removed from their Majlis
seats following convictions on criminal charges for
which they spent time in internal exile and detention.
Human rights groups have alleged that the charges were
trumped up by Gayoom and his allies in order to punish
Nasheed and Latheef for their political activities.
Both men now spend most of their time in Sri Lanka,
where they have been attempting to build the party in
exile. They asserted that the MDP now has about 90
members in the Maldives and elsewhere. Nasheed and
Latheef have been making the rounds of embassies in
Colombo; the UK High Commissioner recently met a MDP
delegation, for example. Nasheed seems to be in his 30s
and Latheef in his early 50s.


7. (C) COMMENT: The MDP appears to be increasingly
active as an organization, indicating that discomfort
with Gayoom's long rule (he recently celebrated his 25th
year in power) may be growing. The fact that a high-
level GoRM official attended Conoffs' meeting with the
MDP leader was also potentially telling. At this point,
the MDP's political platform seems hazy and focused
broadly on an anti-Gayoom message. It is not readily
apparent what their resource base is, though the MDP now
has a website (www.maldiviandemocraticparty.org) which
was recently set up. END COMMENT.


8. (U) Minimize considered.

LUNSTEAD