"MDP's claims about China are utter nonsense. They are trying to create problems between India and the Maldives but they are not going to succeed," said Mohamed Hussein Shareef, Gayoom's spokesman, who was also on a visit to Delhi. He stressed that the election timetable will not be disrupted. The popular perception of the Maldives as a placid chain of picturesque islands fit only for snorkeling and scuba diving does disservice to its 3,00,000 people, 42 per cent of whom live on just over a dollar a day. Many of the 200 inhabited islands lack water and sanitation facilities. Although it has a per capita GDP of $2,800, wealth is concentrated in a few hands. Over the past five years, the islands have been rocked by periodic protests, arrests, and reports of deaths in custody. Nasheed himself has been arrested 16 times and other MDP members such as Mohamed Zuhair, the party's overseas representative to the US and Britain, have been tortured.
Under pressure, Gayoom agreed in 2004 on a road map for elections which enjoins him to create an election commission, establish a supreme court and ratify the new constitution—all before elections are held in October. MDP claims he is delaying action on every benchmark, making it extremely difficult for all the steps to be completed. Therefore the desperation and frustration among the people. The MDP fears rigging but feels even a flawed election is better than none. Besides the MDP, which claims the support of 30,000 people, there are four other parties registered, including Gayoom's Maldivian People's Party.
The MDP delegation also met prominent Congress party leaders, including Jairam Ramesh, Salman Khursheed and Sachin Pilot, and impressed upon them the need for support. While the leaders were careful about lending open support, they were keen to maintain regular contact. They asked MDP members to write a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi, which was dispatched this week from Male, sources said. The MDP is keen to establish links with political parties and civil society in India, to rally more voices for its cause. Over the past years, the MDP had met only Indian diplomats, staying bereft of the great sources of initiative and impetus that exist outside it. Zaki, a former government official but now an MDP leader, said after his meetings in Delhi that it was the first time he "felt Indian democracy" in action.
