Letter to the President of the Maldives

My name is Latheefa Verrall. I am a Maldivian citizen who lives in New Zealand. Although I have lived in New Zealand for over 50 years I have continued to maintain strong links to the Maldives and keep in close touch with my Maldivian family and friends. Part of this link consists of taking a keen interest in Maldivian politics and investing my time in publishing a book and many articles on various aspects of our society. Despite my fifty years of absence, I still love my country of origin.

Because of the decision I made to be a positive part of both of the countries of my dual citizenship, I was overjoyed when you, a member of the Maldivian Democratic Party, became the president of the country on July 17, 2018. Before that, I have watched and commented on the governance of some of your predecessors and felt saddened by the lack of improvement in the plight of ordinary Maldivians, particularly the people living on islands other than Male’ and conversely, the increase in incidents of corruption and torture. The careless manner in which your immediate predecessor allowed simple, inexperienced Maldivian Muslims to travel to Syria and be brainwashed by ISIS, filled me with horror and immense sadness.

Consequently, on the 17 of November 2018 I felt a sense of hope. A good man who would not cynically use religion for political ends, who would not be corrupted and use violence and torture to stay in power, had finally become the most powerful person in our country. I celebrated that; it was no mean achievement on your part. I had great hopes that a systematic approach to discourage the fundamentalists would save our country from the horrors of killings and violence in the distorted name of religion and, under an honest leader, the persistent and overwhelming burden of corruption would come to an end. Your name Solih, I felt, was particularly pertinent to the time and your supporters used it well in the months leading to the election. I felt the Maldives could do with a strong dose of virtue, righteousness and goodness that your name embodies.

However, things did not proceed as I had hoped.

As you understand, life does not allow us to select the challenges that we have to face. Life forces us to respond to the challenges that appear before us. A leader’s reputation and character are judged, not by the easy policies he enacts, but by standing up to the challenges he did not want or expect. In short, being good, virtuous and righteous as a leader of a nation is not simply the absence of corruption and intention to harm. In the complex world we live in, it means willingness and an ability to actively work for forces of good, righteousness and virtue. This requires clear and well targeted action against the corruption that occurred during the previous government and a determined effort to save the country from the clutches of the Fundamentalists.

I am not a politician, but as a parent and school teacher I comprehend that children learn the rules of good behaviour in part by having to accept the consequences of their bad behaviour. This is a universal truth which applies as much in the adult world as it does in the socialising of children. When people have the right to act with impunity, without taking responsibility for their behaviour, they fail to honour the rights of others and we all lose the tools that allow us to live within accepted social conventions. At an extreme level of this, they become a threat to the society we live in. If the state continues to ignore the terror, then the terrorists are continuously strengthened and empowered.

LATHEEFA VERRALL.