US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO997

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000997 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES:  "BRIGHT DAY FOR DEMOCRACY" DARKENED BY 
 
REFORMISTS' ARRESTS 
 
REF: COLOMBO 0946 
 
Classified By: DCM JAMES F. ENTWISTLE.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) Early on June 2--the day the People's Majlis was 
expected to rubber-stamp President Gayoom's decision to allow 
the registration of political parties--police arrested six 
members of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). 
Government Spokesman Dr. Ahmed Shaheed described the arrests 
as "pre-emptive," based on information police had reportedly 
obtained that MDP members were planning to disrupt the June 2 
Majlis session.  He said he expected the detainees would be 
released shortly--provided none of their supporters protested 
the arrests--and predicted the Majlis would approve the 
registration of parties, ushering in a "bright day for 
democracy" in Maldives.  MDP activists in Colombo denied any 
intention to disrupt the proceedings.  By COB June 2 the 
Majlis had unanimously endorsed the measure and all six 
detainees were reportedly in the process of being released. 
Nonetheless, these arbitrary arrests cast a dark pall over 
the "bright day for democracy" and indicate the Government 
has yet to figure out how to accommodate actual opposition. 
End summary. 
 
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PRE-DAWN ARRESTS DARKEN "BRIGHT DAY" 
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2.  (SBU) At about 4:00 a.m. local time in Male' on June 2, 
police arrested four Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) 
activists, including MDP Chairperson Mohamad Nasheed, who had 
returned to Maldives on April 30 from self-imposed exile 
abroad.  Two other MDP members were arrested the afternoon of 
the same day.  Their arrests coincided with the day scheduled 
for the People's Majlis to review, at President Maumoon Abdul 
Gayoom's request, the Attorney General's opinion allowing the 
registration and operation of political parties (Reftel). 
 
3.  (C)  In a June 2 telephone conversation, Presidential 
Spokesman Dr. Ahmed Shaheed told poloff that the arrests had 
been made because police had obtained information that the 
MDP activists planned to disrupt the Majlis' proceedings 
later in the day.  The police had a choice whether to sit on 
this information and allow the expected disruption to occur, 
Shaheed said, or to take "pre-emptive" measures to detain the 
suspects, thereby ensuring a peaceful Majlis session.  In 
consultation with the Justice and Home Ministries, the police 
decided to make the arrests, he said.  (Note:  It can be 
safely assumed that Gayoom approved the arrests.)  Shaheed 
added that he expected the detainees to be released by the 
end of the day if MDP supporters did not attempt to create 
another disturbance by protesting the arrests.  Although the 
MDP office remained open, another area that the MDP had been 
using for public discussions had been sealed by police, 
Shaheed acknowledged. 
 
4.  (C)  Shaheed said that he expected the initiative to 
recognize political parties would pass smoothly.  Majlis 
approval was not really even needed since the Attorney 
General had already determined the measure was consistent 
with the Constitution, he added; the President had forwarded 
his request to the Majlis merely as a formality.  The Majlis' 
anticipated approval would usher in a "bright day for 
democracy in Maldives," Shaheed asserted. 
 
5.  (C) When asked if the arrests of pro-reform activists 
might not cast a pall over the day's brightness, Shaheed 
acknowledged that the day had been "marred by these 
developments," but reiterated that the detentions were 
necessary to avert MDP plans for "chaos" and "confrontation." 
 Poloff questioned the motivation for MDP to disrupt the 
Majlis proceedings, noting that MDP representatives had 
expressed support for the measure, which would allow them at 
long last to function as a party in Maldives, and overall 
optimism at the direction the country seemed to be heading. 
She noted that the Embassy had shared some of that optimism 
and was concerned that the arrests could indicate that things 
were heading in the wrong direction.  The MDP says one thing 
to Embassies in English and another thing to crowds in 
Dhivehi, Shaheed answered; MDP had recently been "calling for 
street action" against the Majlis session, he averred.  The 
MDP's priority is not democratic reform, he continued, but 
"to have the Government of Maldives fall."  The MDP does not 
want the legalization of political parties because it fears 
that pro-Gayoom forces will form a party that "will attract 
more mainstream talent" and capable people, Shaheed charged. 
 
6.  (SBU)  On May 31 the Embassy had received a diplomatic 
note from the Government of Republic of Maldives (GORM) that, 
in retrospect, appeared to presage the arrests.  The 
four-page note refers to "continuing efforts to subvert and 
derail the reform process," especially by "a number of 
political opportunists, drug offenders and ex-convicts (who) 
have called for the immediate and unconditional registration 
of a political party, insisting that it could be done within 
the framework of the existing Constitution."  This band of 
purported reprobates, the note warns, "have been inciting 
public opinion . . . and have stepped up efforts to 
destabilize the country and undermine law and order."  So far 
the GORM has "acted with great restraint" with respect to 
these provocations and "has been doing all that it can to 
foster confidence in the reform process and to carry out the 
work in an open and transparent manner with the engagement of 
the international community." 
 
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MDP HAD PLANNED CELEBRATION, NOT SIT-IN 
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7.  (C)  Nazim Sattar, an MDP council member in Colombo, told 
poloff that his organization had planned to hold a peaceful 
assembly in front of the Majlis building during the June 2 
session to celebrate its anticipated approval of the party 
registration measure.  The MDP had no interest in disrupting 
the session, he asserted.  None of the detainees' families 
has been able to see them and no one knew where they were 
being held, he said.  Abdul Bari, a Maldivian employee of 
UNDP familiar with the MDP, disputed Shaheed's claims that 
party activists had been calling for "street action," stating 
that he had never heard any such rhetoric in Dhivehi, and 
adding that the MDP had every reason to support the 
anticipated approval of party registration by the Majlis.  As 
of mid-day June 2, the People's Majlis session was reportedly 
proceeding without incident, according to several sources. 
Bari told poloff that he had observed no one, except police 
and National Security Service personnel, outside the Majlis 
building. 
 
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"HEALTHY BEGINNING" 
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8.  (C) At COB June 2 Dr. Shaheed told us that the 
Majlis--including MDP members--had unanimously endorsed the 
measure, which he described as "a healthy beginning" to 
multi-party democracy in Maldives.  On June 5 the Attorney 
General is expected to introduce a bill before Parliament on 
a legal framework for party registration and operation.  In 
the interim, Shaheed said, the President will proclaim "a 
provisional framework" that will allow a quicker start to the 
process of party registration.  When asked if he expected the 
MDP would be allowed to register, he replied, "Of course." 
All six detainees, moreover, were "in the process of being 
released," Shaheed said; at COB they were being brought by 
boat to Male' from the detention center on Dhoonidhoo Island. 
 The police were also taking steps to remove the barricades 
they had constructed to seal the MDP meeting place off from 
public access during the day, he added. 
 
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COMMENT 
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9.  (C) In the past the GORM has attempted to discredit MDP 
members as Muslim fundamentalists to us and as Christian 
missionaries to the Maldivian public.  Now they are 
apparently "drug offenders" and "ex-convicts."  (This last 
charge is largely true, since the GORM arrested so many of 
them during the August 12-13 civil unrest of last year.)  The 
GORM had been billing June 2 as a great day for democratic 
reform and the advent of multiparty pluralism in Maldives; 
"pre-emptive" arrests of reform proponents will do little to 
convince either the reform-hungry Maldivian public or the 
skeptical international community of the sincerity of GORM 
intentions.  As today's Kafka-esque episode indicates, the 
GORM has yet to figure out how to accommodate democratic 
opposition. 
LUNSTEAD