One-­Horse Race
FRONTLINE|February 16, 2018

With most leaders of the opposition parties either in jail or in exile, President Abdulla Yameen appears set to win the approaching presidential election.

R.K.Radhakrishnan
One-­Horse Race

IT IS ANOTHER ELECTION YEAR IN THE Maldives, which is to hold its third presidential election since becoming a multiparty democracy. However, there are clear signs that the days of multiparty democracy are over in the archipelago nation.

Almost all the leaders of the major opposition parties are in jail or in exile. It appears certain that this time there is one person who wants to make sure that there is only one player left in the field—President Adbulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom. He won the last race in 2013 merely because far too many influential Maldivian leaders did not trust President Mohamed Nasheed and backed him instead. A couple of years after he took over as President, almost all those who backed Yameen are out of the charmed circle, including his own half-brother, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, the man who ruled the Maldives with an iron hand for almost three decades before he decided to do the right thing in 2006.

Maumoon, who went back to the Maldives in January this year, suddenly found that he had a posse of policemen at his residence. On enquiry, he was told that this was for his own security since there were death threats against him. Maumoon persisted in asking who made the death threats. So far neither the police, who had posted the personnel, nor the government is willing to clarify the source of the purported threats. In the small island of Male, a city of very narrow roads in which over a third of the entire Maldives population lives, threats are not new. But there has never been any threat against established political players.

This story is from the February 16, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the February 16, 2018 edition of FRONTLINE.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM FRONTLINEView All
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
FRONTLINE

How Not To Handle An Epidemic

The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Tragedy on foot
FRONTLINE

Tragedy on foot

As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Sarpanchs as game changers
FRONTLINE

Sarpanchs as game changers

Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

time-read
7 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Scapegoating China
FRONTLINE

Scapegoating China

As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
New worries
FRONTLINE

New worries

Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
FRONTLINE

No love lost for labour

Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.

time-read
8 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Capital's Malthusian moment
FRONTLINE

Capital's Malthusian moment

In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Understanding migration
FRONTLINE

Understanding migration

When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
FRONTLINE

Waiting for Jabalpur moment

The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
An empty package
FRONTLINE

An empty package

The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020