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Maldives, the Indian Ocean tourist Mecca is best known for its pristine beaches and magnificent lagoons. Yet the last few years have seen disaster after disaster strike this island giving it a reputation that extends beyond its natural beauty. In 2004, the deadly Tsunami caused damage equivalent to 62% of Maldives’ GDP at the time as it struck the archipelago’s three major industries: tourism (accounting for 28% of its GDP) fishing and shipping. Soon after, the financial crisis crippled the Maldivian economy which actually contracted in 2009. Lastly, environmental changes threaten to submerge this collection of small islands and leave 400,000 Maldivians home and country-less.
These catastrophes strike Maldives just as it celebrates a shift to a more open and democratic political system. Under its previous president Maumoon Gayoom, Maldives was known for its closed and autocratic political system. But in October 2008, after months of intense local and international pressure, Maldives saw its first ever multi-candidate, multi-party elections. President Gayoom’s thirty year rule finally came to an end and Mohamed Nasheed, a political activist who had previously been jailed several times for political dissent came into power along with the newly formed Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) which he co-founded.
In his address at the inaugural session of last year’s Sixteenth South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, President Nasheed was quick to acknowledge Maldives’ history of political repression but also seemed hopeful for the direction the country was heading in. Nasheed stated that the Maldives’ agenda remained to ‘consolidate democracy’ and steer a ‘new, open political culture.’
Lying around seven hundred kilometers off the coast of Sri Lanka, the Maldives has long followed an admirably non-aligned foreign policy. This has led to the country staying neutral on controversial issues such as the Kashmir dispute; a departure from the common stance held by the other members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference which it is a member of. Interestingly, at the same time President Nasheed recently announced decisions to renew ties with Israel; a move that many including the Information Minister of Maldives fear will establish the country as a target for attacks by extremist Islamic groups.
These fears are not unfounded: Maldives saw its first ever bomb blast in September 2007. The explosion in the capital Malé by religious extremists groups, injured 12 tourists and raised questions as to whether the Maldives can continue to stay moderate in a region characterized by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. For some however, Islamic militancy is not an import rather it is a product of the Maldives’ own legislative fabric. Maldives is conspicuous in its state sponsored religious intolerance which has garnered sharp criticism from the international community and organizations such as the International Service for Human Rights. The Maldivian constitution breeds such intolerance through laws that prohibit Maldivians from practicing any religion other than Islam and a Religious Unity Act that stringently differentiates between the type of Islam that is allowed. Even the large population of non-Muslim expatriates, mostly Buddhist Sri Lankans and Hindu Indians are forbidden to practice their faith in public; all places of worship apart from mosques are banned
The rise of fundamentalism may soon displace the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change as the Maldives’ most urgent priority. Maldives is the lowest lying country in the world, a fact well known by President Nasheed who has been outspoken in his quest to combat climate change.
With Islamic fundamentalism becoming more and more mainstream, it will be interesting to see how the fledgling democracy will react if a conservative Islamic political party such as the Adhaalath (Justice) Party comes into power. If that happens, the Republic of Maldives may well implode as it replaces modernity with conservatism and plurality with intolerance. 
Zan Gilani is a legal analyst and has been covering issues on the political economy for a decade. He specializes in civil and national jurisprudence in the South Asian region.
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