Miadhu reported on Wednesday:

According to Dr. Munavvar the two most important tasks facing MDP is winning the forthcoming presidential elections and obtaining success at the next parliamentary elections. He said if he were to speak out on behalf of the party or criticize the government then it will create conflict and will not be in sync with the work of the presidential candidate. He said he believed in providing space for the presidential candidate as he sets out to win this all important elections. >>Continue reading the full report here

I have, since the publication of this article, met with a half dozen people who were not as impressed as me with the content and the substance of what Munavvar had to say, and my impression of the final revelations made by Munavvar in his aforesaid interview. They believe that he is not presidential class. Yet, my contention is that what the whole episode shows is that he does not belong with the masses of which he is intellectually far ahead in design and farsightedness. But then, I would also have to agree that a presidential candidate has to belong with the masses. It is not enough for him to be the best, but he has to move with the pulse of the people. That was what “Meemu Sappe” (Honorable Special Majlish MP for Meemu Atoll) said when he was asked of how he presented himself in the constituent assembly. His argument was that he was a man of the people and his words and actions were manifestations of the pulse of the people. He said that what we have become is simply pathetic.

So, my contention is that democracy is not necessarily for “good” as prescribed in the religion of Islam. It is a system of governance that gives the majority the right to decide what is right and what is wrong, what is fair and what is not fair. It is a dictatorship of those who can rally the majority behind them. And the minority would always condemn the tactics of those who rally the majority behind them – until such time when the masses have reached a level of economic independence to decide their future without being unduly influenced by a handful. Such a day is far from sight, here in the Maldives – a nation which only has a football championship to its credit as a nation!