Within months of coming to power the current ruling party Head, Self -professed Major General Mohamed Nasheed claimed the national TV and Radio. Since then majority of the Maldivian channel themselves to the private local TV channel provided by Honourable Gasim Ibrahim.
No Maldivian needs to be told who Gasim Ibrahim is, particularly the poorest of those among us. Honourable Gasim Ibrahim since he found his fortune in the lucrative Tourism sector of Maldives over two decades ago is the businessman that own most local resorts, but he is most famously known for the way he helped people across the country.
Honourable Gasim Ibrahim from a young age has helped the poor Maldivians, helping the sick to get treatment for medical problems not available in the Maldives, to go abroad and seek treatment in India, Sri Lanka and as far as Thailand. Honourable Gasim Ibrahim also helped whole island communities otherwise island bound, constructing harbours, and establishing community development programs, always facilitating the government and always working in harmony with the government of the day.
Through his Villa Foundation an umbrella charity organisation he established, he granted thriving Maldivians the opportunity to seek education under a scholarship scheme he established. It is through his help I was able to do a PHD in politics. There are many other Maldivian’s like me who owe it to Honourable Gasim Ibrahim for their education health and most of all employment. There are thousands of Maldivian’s whose lives are still stable despite of the economic and political crisis that we are in today; because he is providing them with employment in his Tourist resorts. Still a majority of Maldivian therefore depend on him for their livelihood, which could all be jeopardised by the intention of this government and it‘s President.
When he got involved in politics, it was celebrated by a nation. He is famously known for the Leader who brought the Parliament deadlock between the main opposition MDP now in government and Former Government of President Maumoon over Constitutional arrangement to and end during the years of political reforms. The deadlock that halted the political reform process and prolonged it for a year was brought to an end by him when he got elected as the Speaker of the Parliament.
Gasim Ibrahim’s TV channel VTV has been a turning point for the Maldivians who were unable to enjoy a privately owned local TV station other than DhiTv under the new government.
Today it emerged while he is still under house arrest on treason, sedition and corruption charges, the Inland Revenue has refused the renewal of his license for Villa TV. The license is getting revoked, because the Maldivian population sick of the propaganda machine the state TV has become and how the government has bought airtimes of the other local TV channel Dhitv are opting for Villa TV.
The hideous corruption charges brought against him and his continue detention is based on letters send to the President by a couple of MP’s belonging to the President’s very own party MDP. The letters they send to the President were published today in a government sponsored website which claimed that Gasim Ibrahim tried to bribe them to get them join his own party JP. Similar letters written by the President’s own MP’s were used to detain Leader of PA and younger brother of Former President Abdulla Yamin.
The whole country heard MDP MP’s on tape including the Head of ruling MDP’s Parliament group Reeko Moosa Manik saying that they have secured Parliament members to their party, and opposition Parliament members instead of opposing what government wants in the Parliament should come to them as they are able to offer any amount of money they want.
It is common knowledge how the ruling party bought Alhan Fahmy an MP from the main opposition party DRP by bribing him with five hundred thousand.
However while their own behaviour and claims that they bought MP’s are treated as legitimate; on baseless claims by the very own agents of the state; both Honourable Gasim Ibrahim and Yamin as well as Vice Speaker of Majlis Nazim are under detention. A couple of governments very own MP’s letters to the President saying that they have been approached by the leaders is not a valid ground for arresting these leaders.
The letters written by the President’s own party MP’s that they submitted to the President getting leaked to the media has upset those MP’s. They said they are very unhappy that the President has done something like that. Many Maldivian that now knows the President for his nature; believe that he got the MP’s to write those letters so that he can arrest Gasim, Yamin and Nazim the most powerful opposition leaders that they see as a threat; similar to the way he got his whole Cabinet to resign few weeks ago to bring the country into a crisis.
We are calling on the President to stop and end his ridiculous charges against those leaders and end their unlawful detention. It is not these leaders; but the careless attitude and acts of the President and the dire social and economic situation of the Maldivian that has cost him the popularity he enjoyed when he was elected.
He should also remember it is Honourable Gasim Ibrahim who financed his campaign and got his party and all the other parties and supporters to vote for him in the second round. He was only able to become the President of Maldives because of Gasim Ibrahim as in the 1st round he only got 25 percent of the votes while Former President secured more than 40 percent in the first round with a close call in the second round. There is a saying in a Maldives proverb, never bite the hand that feeds you, as the consequences will be grave if you do so.
The political crisis in the Maldives will not come to an end with the Presidents’ continuous detention of opposition MP’s and leaders as well as supporters. During the day of Nazism’s arrest the President also arrested loyalists, and no body knows the amount of local opposition members that got arrested by the Military and the Police during this crisis who still are heavily guarding the streets.
Attempts by the Parliament Security Committee to hold a meeting in order to make the Head of Military and Head of Police Faseeh behave responsibly was violently brought to an end when the MDP Parliament members together with supporters barged in vandalised the premises and Parliament Security Council members fearing for their well being abandoned the meeting.
A man people elected to bring democracy has turned into a Dictator and made the country a dangerous place for anyone who does not support him. Once again we call on the President to free Honourable Gasim Ibrahim, Honourable Abdulla Yamin and Vice Speaker of Majlis Nazim as well as everyone else arrested in this crisis and do so immediately. Otherwise the peace and stability of the country will not be restored.
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