The Dr. Waheed factor and Dr. Munawwar’s appointment as Gasim’s running mate!

An online poll by Jazeera Daily showed that Dr. Hassan Saeed won the recently held question-answer debate organized by the Information Ministry. Dr. Hassan got nearly half (42%0) of the votes while his closest rival, Anni, got 30%. A similar poll conducted by Dhi-FM also saw Dr. Hassan top the results, even though this poll was later nullified by Dhi-FM, due to some technical problem.

After the debate organized by the Information Ministry, among presidential candidates, many people were of the opinion that Dr. Hassan Saeed appeared to be the biggest threat to Gayyoom. At a press briefing after the debate Gayyoom had his harshest words directed at Dr. Hasssan. This too goes to show that Gayyoom now does not consider Gasim and Anni to be serious contenders.

The appointment of Dr. Munawwar as the running-mate of Buruma Gasim has obviously weakened Gasim’s candidacy. Gasim may have thought that he could get the bulk of votes from Addu Atoll by making an Adduan as his running-mate. But Gasim seems to have forgotten that Dr. Munawwar’s political track-record is full of failures. I bet that even Gayyoom can get more votes from Addu than Dr. Munawwar. Speaking to young and enthusiastic Adduans, I get the feeling that most Adduans now favour Dr. Hassan Saeed as the most viable candidate who can oust Gayyoom and bring a stable and prosperous leadership to the country.

Now that Gasim and Gayyoom have selected their running-mates, the biggest question now is who will be the running mates of Anni and Hassan! Just as Gasim made a mistake in selecting Munawwar as a running-mate, I believe that Gayyoom also made a mistake in selecting Thasmeen as a running-mate. Few Maldivians know Thasmeen and most people consider him to be a quiet man who doesn’t have the political clout needed for a race of this nature. Similarly it would be a mistake for Dr. Hassan to select the most obvious candidate (Dr. Shaheed) as his running-mate. I fully agree that Dr. Shaheed is a very capable leader but it would be a mistake for Dr. Hassan to appoint someone so close to him.

Maldivians still look for some kind of indefinable character in their leaders! Gayyoom had it – and still has a lot of that mysterious character. I believe that Dr. Waheed is someone who has some traits of such character and hence Dr. Waheed could be an excellent asset as a running-mate of either Dr. Hassan or Anni.

I still largely stick with my previous statement, that the three leaders who can make a difference right now are Anni, Ibra and Dr. Hassan. I would though add one more name to this fray. That’s the name of Dr. Waheed from Gaumee Ittihaadh Party. I know that many Maldivians are critical of Dr. Waheed for resigning from his posts too quickly; but at this critical juncture, Dr. Waheed could bring plenty of vigour to Dr. Hassan or Anni if either of them appoints Dr. Waheed as their running-mate.

In a future, democratic government – whoever wins the next election - I believe, the following people should get some senior position in the government:

1. Dr. Hassan Saeed
2. Mohamed Nasheed (Anni)
3. Ibrahim Ismail (Ibra)
4. Dr. Waheed
5. Dr. Shaheed

There are of course many other leaders and potential-leaders – some who are directly involved in the current struggle and some who are watching from a distance. All of them could be involved in a future government in varying degrees. There are people such as Dr. Farahanaz Faisal and Dr. Ugail and Dr. Riza – who could contribute immensely. But the above four leaders could play a pivotal role in saving us from the grip of Gayyoom and taking this country to a new level of prosperity, stability and excellence.

If these five leaders could not come to some sort of compromise, then we may very well see Gayyoom and Gasim top the election and those two names could go to a second round of voting, leaving the rest in limbo. That would be disastrous to the nation.