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Law will make it happen
Riza 09/03/2005-At
the new beginning towards consolidating democratic governance
and reconcilement in the Maldives, there are fundamental
issues which need to be considered by those who are elected by
the people to accomplish this task.
At this
critical juncture, the main role lies in the People’s Special
Majlis; the Constitutional Assembly for that the Constitution
is the supreme law of the country which by its legal
sovereignty compels unconditional obedience to its content
over the entire nation.
With
respect to the sovereign nature of the Constitution, it is
worthwhile subscribing to the task of amending the
Constitution considering the truth that the Maldives is a
religious society i.e. means to reform and democratization
should be consistent with the religious belief and principles.
This is for the occasion that inconsistency of law with the
society’s belief would certainly lead to instability of the
society and to increase people’s tendency to wander, which
subsequently makes the laws remain only as black and whites of
no use.
Historically, the Constitution of the Maldives was designed in
a non-secular manner. It does not separate the State from
religion; hence the State religion of the Maldives has
constitutionally being Islam since the reign of monarchies up
to date. This is a clear symbol of that the people of the
Maldives firmly upheld their religion and it’s a people that
believes governance by means of divined law and spiritual
principles. The Article 7 of the Maldives Constitution states
that the religion of the State of the Maldives shall be Islam.
This was put in force upon affirmation by the people of the
Maldives through a Constitutional referendum i.e. that the
people of the Maldives are strongly attached to their belief
and they do not need a secular State nor the State to be
separated from their religion, Islam. Hence, political
pluralism should be legalized in a manner that would not lead
religious pluralism in the Maldives.
The
People’s Majlis; the Legislature has a great responsibility to
sustain and support the constitutionally guaranteed rights to
the people. People need to enjoy their legal rights by means
of legal administration and structure because democracy is not
the rule of jungles. So, it is the lawmaker's duty to enable a
society to enjoy its legal rights within the boundaries of
law.
For
instance, the current Constitution guarantees freedom of
association although it does not specifically mention of
political parties. This may be due to the reason that the
former politicians or the former Constitutional Assembly did
not realize the dramatic changes that politics undergo within
the political flow of different ages. Nevertheless, people of
the Maldives have come to know about the freedom which is
guaranteed by the Constitution. But when it was time to
exercise the freedom of association in the form of political
parties or political pluralism, there was no law to
administrate or exercises their freedom. This was absolutely
because of the negligence of the Legislature i.e. guaranteeing
freedom and so forth in the Constitution will not serve the
real cause unless all concerning laws are legislated and
enforced. In other words, all rights and freedoms given in the
Constitution have to follow a law, rule or a regulation,
stipulating the manner in which such rights are guaranteed and
how it could to be exercised.
Absence of
law will drive us back to the Stone Age. Secular Democracy is
the synonym of Atheism. Thus, the movement for further
democratization and reform should be completely compatible
with religious methods and principles. Introducing multiparty
democracy should not be a means for religious pluralism. This
could be achieved by constitutional norms and laws that would
serve the true cause of reform and proper governance, and this
responsibility lies in both the Constitutional Assembly and
the Legislature; the People’s Majlis.
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