Munavvar: A defeat of his own making! (Looking beyond Anni)

The results may have been shocking for the supporters of Dr. Munavvar but frankly I wasn’t surprised by the victory for Anni. What was a bit surprising perhaps was the huge margin of victory. For the last week or so many of us have seen this coming. I view this more as a defeat of Munavvar’s own making, rather than a clear-cut endorsement of Anni.

Friday night a friend of mine asked me if I had voted. I said none of those three deserve my vote. ‘Why’ he asked me. I said that from what I had seen in the preceding days of the campaign none of the three had convinced me that they can lead this country out of the quagmire that Gayyoom has leisurely created over the last 30 years!

My friend assumed that, as I was from Addu, that I would naturally vote fro Dr. Munavvar. Friday’s vote has shown that the people of Addu – just like the people from any other atoll – are more concerned about finding a leader for this country, rather than trying to satisfy the ego of one particular atoll. I told my friend that over the period of the campaign, Dr. Munavvar couldn’t show me one single reason why I should vote for him.

I first started suspecting Dr. Munavvar’s capabilities after listening to the first debate of the MDP-primaries. Munavvar’s answers in that question-and-answer session were labored and he seemed nervous. This was surprising given that fact that he had been our Attorney General for ten years and that he ahs a PhD in law. His in cohesive statements lacked any substance. Whereas Anni talked about the need to introduce “less-labor-intensive-industries” and the need to workout a way to reduce “the country’s international debt” and “erasing the debts of the poor families”.

Many people criticised the unpreventable way that Dr. Munavvar was. Some of Munavvar’s supporters thought that Anni was egoistic by wearing a suit; but the fact of the matter is that Anni and Moosa looked more presentable and Munavvar shot himself in the foot by appearing like a cat out of a dustbin. His campaign team should have advised him to be more presentable and more aggressive in his answers. He wasn’t dressed for the job and he wasn’t showing any enthusiasm to lead either. It was a limp and spineless performance. Even Reeko Moosa got more points.

Now some of Munavvar’s supporters are hanging on to the flimsy idea that somehow there was some fraud in the vote. I think it’s time that we all gracefully agree that the defeat was of Munavvar and his team’s own making. This is a bitter lesson for all politicians in the future. Let’s take an example of two sales men. One is selling branded Armani shirts and the other one is selling non-branded shirts. A good sales man could convince the buyer that his non-branded shirt is a better buy. This is the case in politics too. Even though Dr. Munavvar is perhaps better qualified to lead, his team wasn’t able to package him and sell him to the general public. Munavvar himself was, I believe, too arrogant and over-confident.

Let me state one good example of the arrogance of Dr. Munavvar’s team. In the run-up to the election, a senior member of Reeko Moosa’s team approached Dr. Munavvar’s team and proposed a deal. Moosa’s team proposed that Moosa would withdraw his candidacy and put his support behind Munavvar in exchange for some political deal. This is common practice in the many developed democracies. This proposal was rejected without even due consideration. Munavvar’s team said that they were “one hundred percent sure” of victory. Now they are paying the price for arrogance (or perhaps ignorance).

Many of us remember the famous saying of Presidential candidate Bush Senior, during his campaign. He said “read my lips, no more taxes”! But did he standby that statement? No he didn’t. We all lookup to the ideal case of being truthful, but the fact of the matter is that in politics some little white lies are always used. Whether we agree with it or not, that’s the reality. Anni talked about wiping the debts of the poor in the corner shops (Kanmathee Stores). Anni himself would know that it would be nearly impossible to ascertain the right figures of this debt and carry it out as he stated. If he gets to a position of influence he may carryout this promise in some half-baked way but this policy for sure cannot be carried out as comprehensively as Anni stated. But Anni got a lot of votes from the islanders for this stating this policy.

The same can be said about Anni’s policy of introducing a minimum salary of Rf 4000. We all know that the new constitution is being revised to make way for a minimum salary. The question is not whether there would be a minimum salary but how much. I can bet on my house that neither Anni nor any other leader could set the minimum salary at RF 4000 without raising the inflation. If Anni get’s to a position to make this decision he may set the minimum salary at RF 2000 and explain why he couldn’t set it at RF 4000 as he promised! This is all part of the white lies of politics. The fact of the matter is that Anni got plenty of votes for this too. Dr. Munavvar didn’t seem to know how to score vital political points in this way. Surprisingly he seemed to lack the cunning of politics – something that he professed that he had.
Anni also scored points when he said that he will reduce the costs of the presidency, and specifically stated that “Hilaaleege” would be big enough and good enough as a presidential residence! This was sweet news to a public who hate Gayyoom for torturing us and hiding behind the iron gates of a huge presidential palace. We all know that our future president will not reside at Hilaaleege. He may more likely reside at Muleeaage – but Anni scored political points from this statement whereas Munavvar lacked creativity and political ingenuity in his statements and lack of specific policies that touched the hearts of the people.

Another little political game that Anni played was criticizing China as a dictatorial communist power. He specifically said that the communist’s were atheists who didn’t believe in any god. This was a challenge to Gayyoom’s party (DRP) which is cozying up to the Chinese Communist Party. Anni knows that if ever he comes to a position of influence he will try his utmost to strengthen the trade and diplomatic relationship between China and the Maldives. His criticisms of China most probably were meant for the ears of the unassuming islanders and not really meant. This is how you package and sell a candidate to a political mass. If Dr. Munavvar has political ambitions he should learn to be a bit more creative and start cultivating some political cunningness. Anni for sure has abundance of it.

In conclusion let me repeat that I did not vote in the MDP-primaries because I didn’t find any of the three contenders worthy of our presidency. Anni had the political cunningness but that’s probably all that he has. It’s time that we hold him accountable for his words on an “Inthigaalee” candidate. I look forward to see a more charismatic and genuine leader come out of the “Inthigaalee” movement – and as the winner of the MDP primaries, Anni could perhaps be the running mate of such a candidate.