Black Friday Maldives: Encyclopedia II - Black Friday Maldives - Reform activities

Black Friday Maldives - Reform activities

The Black Friday demonstration was associated with the reform activities started in 2003 following the death of Evan Naseem. His death and the following riots of September 20 were partly responsible for the formation of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in exile in neighboring Sri Lanka. Ever since the MDP's formation, the Maldivian government has been under constant international pressure. The opposition movement has often accused President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of being a brutal dictator who uses fear and intimidation to rule. Gayoom's critics are often said to be arrested and tortured in jail, an allegation he continuously denies.

Facing mounting pressure from both the local opposition and from abroad, Gayoom came up with a reform agenda in mid-2004. With this agenda he took the unusual step of allowing citizens to openly debate the reforms in public. The MDP quickly organized several debates in the name of Minivan Bahus. Though Gayoom allowed debates, no one from the government ever attended. Instead, citizens and members of the opposition movement gathered and heavily criticized Gayoom. In the face of this previously unforeseen criticism, after just six debates Gayoom put an end to them when his government forbade public schools from hosting the meetings. Though the public was allowed just six debates, the reform activities had gained such momentum that citizens were now willing to gather in public places and raise their voices. Every night people started gathering near Tetrapod Monument, located at the east end of Malé. All opposition activities, from debates to these gatherings, were recorded by the NSS.

Due to "National security concerns," the gatherings were soon banned by the heavy presence of police. This slowed the gaining momentum of the reform activities. Several key reformists were allegedly blacklisted and subsequently put under surveillance.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Reform activities", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki