|
Gayoom:
At the helm for 30 years
| Gayoom will be best
remembered abroad for his battle against climate change which he
had said threatened to wipe his tiny coral islands and super
luxury tourism hotspot off the face of the earth. He once said
that a one-metre rise in sea levels could submerge his entire
country |
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was born in 1937. Gayoom attended Al Azhar
University in Cairo, Egypt, earning degrees in law, education, and
Islamic studies. After working as a university lecturer in Nigeria he
returned to Maldives in 1971 and shortly thereafter began to work for
the government. He held a number of important ministerial and diplomatic
posts, including deputy ambassador to Sri Lanka and ambassador to the
United Nations (UN).
In 1978 he was elected president of Maldives following the
resignation of Emir Ibrahim Nasir. He was reelected for his fifth
consecutive term in 1998.
 Gayoom was the target of coup attempts in 1980, 1983, and 1988. The
one in 1988 was carried out by mercenary soldiers from the LTTE. It was
crushed with the help of 1,600 Indian paratroopers.
Gayoom took a great interest in education, spending a considerable
part of the republic’s revenues in securing wider educational
opportunities for the Maldivian people through the construction of new
schools and the provision of government scholarships for study abroad.
Gayoom has encouraged the expansion of the tourist trade and sought
environmental protection for the numerous coral islands that comprise
the republic of Maldives.
He has raised his voice against global warming as a leader of a group
of islands.
The 71-year-old president of a thousand islands entered the country’s
first democratic multi-party elections insisting he was no dictator and
pledging to bow out gracefully should he lose Tuesday’s run-off.
Gayoom will be best remembered abroad for his battle against climate
change which he had said threatened to wipe his tiny coral islands and
super luxury tourism hotspot off the face of the earth.
He once said that a one-metre rise in sea levels could submerge his
entire country.
Although he steered the Maldives to become the richest South Asian
nation per capita with an income of over 2,200 dollars, about 40 percent
of the 300,000 population lives on less than a dollar a day.
Gayoom was on the defensive throughout his campaign, responding to
lingering questions over his commitment to democracy and renewed
corruption allegations in the atoll nation of 1,192 coral islands.
Opposition party members have also compared him to Zimbabwe’s Robert
Mugabe or Cuba’s Fidel Castro.
“I’m not like those people,” Gayoom told reporters. “Maldives is
unique. We have our own culture and traditions, and I’m the president of
Maldives. I’m my own man.”
He lost some of his key aides — former foreign minister Ahmed Shaheed
and former attorney general Hassan Saeed who went on to openly defy
Gayoom after declaring that the veteran leader was dragging his feet
over promised reforms.
In January one islander lunged at him with a knife, but the president
was saved from death or injury by a boy scout.
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Rocky road to political reform
Here are some milestones in the Maldives political
history:
1153: After about seven centuries of Buddhism, the Maldives’ last
Buddhist monarch, Siri Bavanaditta, converts to Islam, which becomes the
national religion.
1558: Portuguese capture the capital Male, and rule the islands from
their colony in Goa, India.
1573: Portuguese driven out by warrior-patriot Mohamed Bodu
Takurufanu al-Azam, who becomes Sultan and national hero.
1645-1795: Dutch take possession of Maldives, along with Ceylon (Sri
Lanka), but Islamic customs upheld on islands.
1795-1796: British take control, after conquering Ceylon.
1887: Maldives named as British protectorate.
Jan 1, 1953: Maldives become independent republic in the
Commonwealth, after eight centuries as a sultanate.
Feb 22, 1954: Republic abolished, sultanate restored.
July 26, 1965: Islands granted full independence; Ibrahim Nasir
appointed as premier.
Nov 11, 1968: Sultanate replaced by republic. Nasir becomes
president.
March 6, 1975: Prime Minister Ahmad Zaki arrested by order of the
president and banished to a remote atoll.
July 28, 1978: Sole candidate in a presidential referendum, Maumoon
Abdul Gayoom, wins 90 per cent of the votes cast.
Sept 30, 1983: Gayoom re-elected for a further five years.
Sept 23, 1988: Gayoom re-elected for another five years.
Oct 1, 1993: Gayoom re-elected for fourth consecutive term.
Oct 16, 1998: National referendum re-elects Gayoom.
Sept 20-21, 2003: Public anger at prison abuse boils over into
unprecedented riots. Several people arrested in Male.
Oct 19: Gayoom re-elected for sixth term.
Aug 13, 2004: State of emergency declared after pro-democracy
protests turn violent. The unrest come two months after Gayoom announces
reforms to address the Maldives’ poor human rights record.
Dec 24: Asian tsunami kills 82 people in Maldives; damage estimated
at up to $510 million, about 50-80 per cent of GDP.
Jan 26, 2005: Election mired in confusion; government and opposition
both claim victory.
June 2: Centuries of autocratic rule end as Maldives allows formation
of political parties, which were effectively banned under the
constitution until then.
March 28, 2006: Officials announce new reform roadmap, delaying the
first multi-party elections from 2006 to 2008.
Aug 7, 2007: President Gayoom ratifies new Constitution which
strengthens the Parliament and reduces President’s powers.
Aug 7: Gayoom ratifies new constitution paving way for multi-party
presidential elections by Oct 10, 2008. |
