DRP admits that its MPs are corrupt

Baaaa! Baaaa! Baaaa!

The fiasco relating to the election of the new Speaker to the Majlis is Über-fascinating. First the fact that Sun Travel Siyam was deemed ineligible to vote because he had not sent in his resignation from his position in the MTDC; and following from that the decision to re-take the vote. While the results of the voting are captivating, what is even more stupendous is how the self-proclaimed ruling-party the DRP reacted to the news.

The maths is easy even for a primary school kid. When Mohamed Shihab was elected the Speaker of the Majlis, he got 25 votes as opposed to Seena Zahir’s 22. Since the DRP has 28 members in the Majlis and assuming the two absentees would have voted for Seena Zahir, he is still missing FOUR DRP votes. And if we go with the hypothesis that the DRP is right about claming that the Republican Party bribed the MPs, then that means the DRP admits that its own members are corrupt and are willing to solicit bribes. Bloody Hell. That’s a first!

Indeed, this certainly is a turning point in the ‘transparency’ of politics in the Maldives – the so-called ruling party willing to accept that its ranks are rife with corrupt politicians. Hehe. Nothing new that the rest of the Maldives did not know. This has been the modus operandi of our beloved leader for 30 years. Moreover, we always knew that if someone is willing to indulge in bribes from one side in the form of lucrative tourism deals and a ministership or the likes of a top-level government job, then they would be equally willing change side if a better deal is offered. When our Beloved God and President for Life bribed those parliamentarians who joined the DRP with lucrative offers, he should have realised that when our forefathers talked about the “goat who jumped over one fence will jump over the other” (eh fulhah mathin funmaali bakari aneh fulhah mathin ves funmaa laaney), it was not without substance. But then maybe our beloved President for Life did not believe it because it is not an Arab saying from the corridors of Egypt and is just an ordinary Dhivehi saying from the fisher-folk of the Maldives.

The question is what really happened? IF the DRP parliamentarians voted for Shihab against their party whip because they truly believed that he is the better man for the job than an unelected MP, then well done to them. But IF the DRP is right in their claim, this does not bode well for democracy because it means that our parliamentarians are soliciting bribes, whether to support their networks of patronage or just to reward themselves. What is even worse is that our potential leaders of tomorrow (Republican Party or whoever did it) are willing to bribe to get their way to get what they want (in effect, the same policy as Our Beloved Leader for Life, Golhaabo.) So despite a revised constitution, we have not moved foreword an inch.

It maybe "Veritas nunquam perit" (truth never dies) but it may never be known. But for the sake of democracy and for the sake of a better future for my (future) kids, I hope it’s the case of the honest parliamentarian than a corrupt one.

And meanwhile, the DRP goat bleats on…Baaa! Baaa! Baaa!

Cras credemus, hodie nihil!