Democracy: thirst of the new generation

Traditionally politics have been attributed only for the politicians.  However, today Maldivians would be regarded as  highly participative in political affairs. I wish to share my views on why so many people are engaged in politics and its implications.

Politically inactive Maldivians became politically vibrant for  many reasons, the primes being:

• The Change: The majority of voting population, particularly the 18-35 year age group strongly believed that the country needed a change, and such change would only be possible with their active involvement.
• The Slavery: After coming to power MDP Government has been vocal and acting on a policy of 'reward jobs' for pro MDP political involvement and 'threat dismissals' for none involvement.
• The Uturn: MDP came to power by selling the 'Change' deceptively wrapped in the beautiful colors of democracy. Yet just after 3 months of MDP's governance people realized that MDP's democratic promises were a lure and that the people have been deceived by MDP. Hence people who began the democratic drive wanted to continue their fight for democracy, thereby choosing to continue their active involvement at the forefront of the politics,  though not for the Government.
• The People Power: The new constitutional 'local governance model' encourages active involvement of locals, particularly those who seek to compete in the local elections.

Now that Maldivians are politically super-active its hard to visit a restaurant, café or a 'hotaa' where people would not be having heated conversations, discussions, or even arguments about one or more of the politically polarized issues.

The Maldivians would need to slightly disengage in politics and spend more time on their respective productivity roles, in order for the country to gain an economic development momentum. Yet this would be possible only when Maldivians get a government that honors democracy and promotes democratic values as the new generation Maldivians are thirsty for democracy.

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