The Great Yellow-Blue Divide
| DATE: 2009-05-25 | PRINT | Share
In fact, the word ‘rivalry’ seems too mild a term to do justice to the emotions that well up within the supporters of both parties where the other party is concerned. ‘Animosity’ would be closer to the mark.
These days, it’s fairly common to hear about siblings or whole families severing ties with each other over differences about their political allegiance. Whole islands have been divided, bringing social dynamics within the population and development projects to a standstill, while instances of one faction threatening bodily harm or worse to supporters of other factions – even carrying out the threat on occasion – have been reported. Painting the walls of their homes the colour representing their political affiliation – blue for DRP and yellow for MPD – used to be a source of pride for the residents of the house, but now also seem to represent a form of visual threat against those who embrace other political views.
The problem really doesn’t lie with choosing different political affiliations. The root of the problem lies in the fact that despite four years since multiparty politics was introduced in the country, party members have not learnt to respect or show anything other than contempt for the beliefs and ideals of other political parties.
According to Project Coordinator of Transparency Maldives, Aiman Rasheed, who has worked hard to create awareness among the public about the democratic changes the country is experiencing, the reason party members seem unable or unwilling to tolerate differences of opinion, as far as politics was concerned, was because Maldivians weren’t really prepared for the sudden political changes they had gone through.
“In other countries of the world, political systems were established over many years,” he said. “In Maldives the change was suddenly thrust upon them in writing. There wasn’t time enough to experience it in practice and find out what was best for the country.”
An expert on sociology, who wished to remain anonymous, said that sufficient time was necessary for political changes to be assimilated into the society just as it took time for people to come to terms with any changes introduced into an existing system.
“We are taking our first steps towards democracy in a very volatile political environment,” the expert said. “In reality, creating awareness among the public is a difficult task due to the amount of propaganda being spread. As long as those two remain intertwined and we are unable to separate issues from politics, it will be very difficult to tolerate different opinions.”
Being able to take criticism and tolerate differences in opinions is a cornerstone of a democratic system. So it is essential that people learn to respect others’ views.
“In the future, the democratic system in Maldives will become more developed,” Aiman said. “So it is essential that tolerance among people increase as more and more people begin to take part in politics.”
A multiparty system is one of the most important pillars of the democratic reform process being experienced in the country, and it shouldn’t be responsible for breaking up family and severing close ties between friends. Given the current political environment it seems unlikely that the upcoming council elections would be any less competitive or ruthless as the previous two elections. However it is important to understand that it isn’t necessarily a cause for division among the community just because two walls adjacent to each other are painted in different colours.
| DATE: 2009-05-25 | PRINT | Share
In fact, the word ‘rivalry’ seems too mild a term to do justice to the emotions that well up within the supporters of both parties where the other party is concerned. ‘Animosity’ would be closer to the mark.
These days, it’s fairly common to hear about siblings or whole families severing ties with each other over differences about their political allegiance. Whole islands have been divided, bringing social dynamics within the population and development projects to a standstill, while instances of one faction threatening bodily harm or worse to supporters of other factions – even carrying out the threat on occasion – have been reported. Painting the walls of their homes the colour representing their political affiliation – blue for DRP and yellow for MPD – used to be a source of pride for the residents of the house, but now also seem to represent a form of visual threat against those who embrace other political views.
The problem really doesn’t lie with choosing different political affiliations. The root of the problem lies in the fact that despite four years since multiparty politics was introduced in the country, party members have not learnt to respect or show anything other than contempt for the beliefs and ideals of other political parties.
According to Project Coordinator of Transparency Maldives, Aiman Rasheed, who has worked hard to create awareness among the public about the democratic changes the country is experiencing, the reason party members seem unable or unwilling to tolerate differences of opinion, as far as politics was concerned, was because Maldivians weren’t really prepared for the sudden political changes they had gone through.
“In other countries of the world, political systems were established over many years,” he said. “In Maldives the change was suddenly thrust upon them in writing. There wasn’t time enough to experience it in practice and find out what was best for the country.”
An expert on sociology, who wished to remain anonymous, said that sufficient time was necessary for political changes to be assimilated into the society just as it took time for people to come to terms with any changes introduced into an existing system.
“We are taking our first steps towards democracy in a very volatile political environment,” the expert said. “In reality, creating awareness among the public is a difficult task due to the amount of propaganda being spread. As long as those two remain intertwined and we are unable to separate issues from politics, it will be very difficult to tolerate different opinions.”
Being able to take criticism and tolerate differences in opinions is a cornerstone of a democratic system. So it is essential that people learn to respect others’ views.
“In the future, the democratic system in Maldives will become more developed,” Aiman said. “So it is essential that tolerance among people increase as more and more people begin to take part in politics.”
A multiparty system is one of the most important pillars of the democratic reform process being experienced in the country, and it shouldn’t be responsible for breaking up family and severing close ties between friends. Given the current political environment it seems unlikely that the upcoming council elections would be any less competitive or ruthless as the previous two elections. However it is important to understand that it isn’t necessarily a cause for division among the community just because two walls adjacent to each other are painted in different colours.
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