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by Lynn Ockersz

"Prosperity" brings its own discontents. As the last footfalls die down in the recent, unprecedented, widespread rioting in the Maldives, we are left to ponder this, by no means, unfamiliar truth.

MALE MALDIVES : In this picture taken 21 September 2003, an unidentified Maldavian man lies on a stretcher as he is carried by medical staff to an aeroplane in Male. The man is one of three inmates of the cities Maafushi Jail, who were wounded in clashes with prison authorities, who have been flown to the Sri Lankan capital Colombo for urgent medical treatment. AFP PHOTO

To be sure, this windswept archipelago in the Indian Ocean could still be romanticized as an "epitome of Paradise" - as some writers choose to word it - but they could, apparently, do so only from an aesthetic point of view. For, the extent of rioting over the recent prison deaths, amid continuing allegations of rights abuses, points to a degree of popular discontent which is unprecedented in the Gayoom era of governance.

Interestingly, President Gayoom has won another five-year term in office - the sixth in a row since 1978. The poser for the perceptive observer is whether popular discontent is gathering over a perceived slow pace in political liberalisation.

The Knee-jerk reaction of supporters of the present Maldivian political order would be to point to the socio-economic progress achieved by the archipelago over the past few decades. For instance, the Maldivian national per capita income is said to have exceeded the 2000 dollar mark and national literacy has vaulted beyond 90 percent. Health and welfare gains are such that today, the average lifespan is well over 70 years.

These are no mean achievements for a developing country but the conundrum which the Third World is discovering today is that material advancement also brings its disaffections. Upward social mobility fuelled by increased educational opportunities accompanied by greater economic empowerment of wider sections of a Third World population, for instance, invariably lead to the demand for political liberalization and pluralism. With time such popular protests could take a violent turn. The question is - are the Maldives entering a political phase of this kind?

Vast as the socio-political differences among states in this part of the world may be, the current experiences of Myanmar could prove instructive in this respect. Myanmar's democratic icon Aung Sang Suu Kyi continues to exercise a charismatic appeal and is seen as a threat to the country's political order, on account of her ability to represent the repressed democratic aspirations of the articulate sections of the people of Myanmar. She is a rallying point for those advocating political liberalization and democratization.

All this and more is happening despite Myanmar's association with ASEAN and its relative economic advancement. Accordingly, relative economic empowerment and corresponding political disempowerment could prove an explosive mix in this region. In fact, the World Bank Vice President had, reportedly, only recently given the Maldives, the following glowing endorsement: "The Maldives is a fine example for other developing nations. Its developments are amazing. Though it is a small country, its achievements are big, policies are sustainable...."

The recent round of rioting in the Maldives, however, proves that we could be only skimming the surface with such assessments. Ideally, these disturbances should prompt a re-exploration of the interdependence between economic and political empowerment in the Third World.

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