Last week was the inauguration of the eighth president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu. Through the magic of the technology known as live streaming, I was able to watch the ceremony with some other members of the Maldivian community where I live. This post will be a short unpacking of all my thoughts about the ceremony and the politics surrounding it.

If you have been following this blog since at least 2018, you might remember that I covered the inauguration of the previous president Ibrahim Solih in a similar fashion, and I introduced the post in the exact same way. If I may be a little meta for a second, those who are more literaturely inclined may choose to interpret the author’s choice to start both analyses with the exact same wording as a subtle hint that despite the change in political parties and the change of president, the author believes that politics in the Maldives will remain the same and no substantial changes will occur as a result of this election. In addition, long-time readers might know that the author does have a tendency to be cynical, negative and excessively critical, which may perhaps justify this interpretation. However, I believe that it would be more correct to assume that the author is lazy, time-poor, and doesn’t believe that he has much of value to add to the conversation surrounding the inauguration and the presidency that is to follow. But that has nothing to do with the fact that I, myself, am the author.

Anyway, speaking of literature, I am choosing to interpret Muizzu’s inauguration through a framework that is commonly used in education contexts – particularly in early literacy – and that is through three layers of comprehension: literal, inferential, and evaluative; or in in other words, within the text, beyond the text, and about the text. So not only do you get some political stuff, but you also get some education theory mixed in, delivered with my trademark wit. I’m incredibly excited for you all.

Within the Text

Within-the-text comprehension is all about what is there; what can be seen and heard; what is shown explicitly and what is stated directly. There’s no need to think deeply, which may come as a relief to many Maldivians.

So what was seen? What was said? Well, here’s a quick summary of the inauguration:

  • It took place at Republic Square. The whole area was done up with a massive set that resembled the inside of the People’s Majlis, complete with a special area at the front for all the VIPs (the new president’s family, other politicians, foreign diplomats, etc.) and a less special area at the back for the plebs.
  • Some streets were closed off to make way for all the VIPs arriving by car and of course for the presidential motorcade. The closing off didn’t seem to be as extensive as for Solih’s inauguration.
  • The red carpet was rolled out, leading up to the seating area.
  • Despite the red carpet being rolled out, many of the politicians walked along its edge rather than down the middle.
  • The president’s car ended up parking partly on top of the red carpet.
  • (I’m making a big deal out of the red carpet for a reason)
  • The faaskuri hedhun worn by most of the women in attendance were elegant and stylish, as they were for the previous inauguration (I was forced to comment on this).
  • The men wore suits that were not at all suited (hehe) to Maldivian weather.
  • Prior to the actual inauguration, TVM presenters were talking about the whole scene, which is typical for events like this anywhere in the world.
  • Mostly, the presenters just talked about what was being televised. Occasionally they had some broader talking points about what the day means for Maldives. Some of the more interesting (read: questionable) points include:
    • Maldives has always been free and never under any sort of occupation
    • Maldives is the oldest country in the region
    • Maldives has a rich, unique culture going back hundreds of years
  • After all this came the actual inauguration ceremony.
  • Muizzu stepped out his car which was parked partly on the red carpet, and walked through the rows of military personnel who flanked the red carpet. (Is there a name for this? The closest thing I could find was the saber arch, but there were no sabers or arches)
  • The MNDF band played the national anthem (better than last time, but still with room for improvement)
  • Verses from the Quran were recited (quite nicely, I might add)
  • Muizzu gave a speech in which he included stuff about:
    • Maldivian sovereignty and how to maintain it while simultaneously maintaining respectful, cordial relations with other nations.
    • The need to change/improve the way Maldivians think, that is, to develop a more informed population with better critical thinking skills.
    • Some of the development projects which would happen under his presidency (including my idea about localised centralisation omg the president used my idea #imsoinfluential)
  • Muizzu signed papers which officially made him president.
  • Cannons were fired; the traditional 21-gun salute.

And that’s pretty much it. Now let’s delve a bit deeper:

Beyond the Text / About the Text

Beyond-the-text comprehension is all about making inferences; taking what is shown and stated directly and reading between the lines. For this, we need to use context clues, make connections and use prior knowledge to shed some light on the text and analyse it a bit more deeply.

About-the-text comprehension is about stepping back and looking at the text itself, rather than the content of the text. If beyond-the-text means reading between the lines, about-the-text means asking why the lines are there in the first place.

We can use this inferential/evaluative lens to look at all the points I outlined in the previous section one by one:

Location

The ceremony took place at Republic Square, which as I said, was all done up and decorated with a massive Majlis-esque set. And while the whole thing was a big deal, it didn’t seem to me that it was presented as being as big a deal as Solih’s inauguration. To me, this says that Muizzu doesn’t care for pomp and circumstance and is perhaps more action oriented. So rather than being unnecessarily flashy, he’ll be flashy to the required extent for ceremonial purposes and then actually show us what can be achieved with him as president.

I don’t know whether the choice to hold the ceremony at Republic Square was more practical or strategic, but it did give Muizzu ample opportunity to make the ceremony less about himself and more about the country (what with the massive flag and all, which he even humbled himself to, inviting the audience to show deference to it – and therefore the country). This was a clever move on the part of whoever organised the ceremony, because it allowed Muizzu to present himself as being not as self-serving as previous presidents.

You can also read into the Majlis style decorations as inviting the population into the political sphere and not having everything behind closed doors, thus suggesting a more open and transparent presidency. The cynic in me says that this is all for show, and then there’s another part of me that feels like I’m reading into things that aren’t there. But that’s the nature of inferences.

Red Carpet

While watching the inauguration, I made perhaps too many unwarranted comments about the red carpet, mainly pertaining to the fact that a lot of the people who walked it didn’t walk along the middle and instead walked along the edge; at least part of the way across it. The red carpet as a concept has connotations of glamour and grandiosity (and historically, divinity) and in some contexts luxury (hence expressions like “the red carpet treatment”). One would assume that guests who were invited to the ceremony would have some understanding of those ideas and would walk in the middle of the carpet, thus displaying confidence and assertiveness. Conversely, the edge-walking reality could be seen either as humility on the part of the politicians (lol “humble politicians”), or a lack of confidence. Granted, walking in the middle of a red carpet during such a public affair can seem daunting, but we must question if our politicians can’t walk the literal walk, can they walk the figurative walk that is living up to their roles and serving their constituents? I’m making this whole red carpet a bigger deal than it needs to be, but it’s something to think about. Behavioural science is a thing, after all.

The former president knows how it’s done.

TVM Nationalist Comments

The TVM commentators made some really weird statements which, although perhaps technically true, have connotations which speak to a greater push for nationalism amongst the Maldivian populace. For example, Maldives never being under foreign occupation. Technically true depending how you define occupation. The Maldives was never colonised, but that does not mean it was never in a subservient position to other countries. The fact that it was a British protectorate for half of the 20th century comes to mind.

They also said that Maldives is the oldest country in the region, which once again can be true on a technicality. A very stretchy, clutching-at-straws technicality. I imagine what they meant is that Maldives has existed as a sovereign unified political entity longer than the other countries in the region. By contrast, India, has only existed in its current form since 1947, Sri Lanka since 1948, and Pakistan and Bangladesh since 1971. But I think that speaks more to the isolation of the country for most of its history rather than some long enduring national spirit and/or political stability. Also, it’s not even a fair comparison, because Maldives gained independence in 1965, so what is this “oldest country” they’re talking about? I guess that doesn’t count because the Maldives was never occupied.

Also, the political units within South Asia, whether they are kingdoms, empires, sultanates, or republics can, to a degree, be separated from the culture “on the ground”. And I think the opposite of this was implied when the presenters were talking about Maldives being the oldest country in the region. Indian culture did not start in 1947.

Finally, on the point of culture, the presenters talked about Maldives having a rich culture. Again, it’s technically true, but they spoke about it with the implication that Maldivian culture arose and developed independently. One only needs to look at the religious history of the Maldives to know that this is not true. Buddhism came to Maldives from what is now Nepal, and Islam came from what is now Saudi Arabia. Any cultural development would have been impacted by this foreign influence. This is not to say that there is no originality at all in Maldivian culture, but to suggest that it is had no external influences is just wrong.

All of these talking points are suggestive of the need for the political class to build a certain narrative around what “Maldivianness” is, to construct a new national identity, and build national pride. None of that is inherently bad, but we can do that without lying to ourselves. It seems at odds with Muizzu’s goals of developing better critical thinking within the population.

Muizzu’s Speech

Within the context of this relatively humble ceremony, I would say Muizzu’s speech was appropriate. It matched the red carpet edge-walking, and the publicness of the whole affair. He spoke of Maldivians as a whole rather than as distinct political blocks (which is very different to the polarised politics of many other countries) suggesting that he will work to serve all of their interests.

I also really liked the way he spoke of protecting national interests. He did so in such a way that suggested openness. He specifically said that that government will act with respect towards other countries and that Maldivians themselves should do the same, but that he would put Maldives first. Of course this was in reference to the whole Indian military presence in the Maldives, but he didn’t make that explicit, instead saying it as a general idea that could apply to any country. His approach was different to the idea of protecting national interests that have come from other countries recently (think USA, India, China, Israel 😬) which have been a lot more aggressive and/or inward looking.

Finally there was his whole thing of cultivating a more informed, more critically thinking population. And while I definitely agree with this idea in principle, he didn’t really outline how this would be achieved. Such a massive cultural shift would require a huge amount of resources and very careful planning, so it would be good to know what this would entail. But I think it’s really good that he’s even talking of such goals rather than on purely material or economic development. Whether or not any of it will materialise remains to be seen.

There was apparently a lot of positive feedback (or maybe mindless praise) after Muizzu’s speech, with some apparently saying it was one of the best speeches in Maldivian history. I say “apparently” because I’m going by what I’ve heard from others. And yes, he was a confident speaker, but it is more than likely that he was going off a rehearsed script. This is evidenced by the fact that he made multiple grammatical errors and even pronounced a word completely wrong without even attempting to correct himself, suggesting that he had no idea what he was talking about. So, make of that what you will, I guess. Also, Maldivians would do well to actually think more about the content of his speech rather than just looking at how it was delivered. But it seems like we’re already getting into cult-of-personality territory here, which is supposedly exactly what Muizzu doesn’t want. And if he does indeed want a nation of intelligent, crtitical, free-thinking individuals, he’s got a lot of work to do.

Conclusion

Watching the inauguration, I did feel like the Maldives is entering a new era. But the challenges that lie ahead also became clear. We can no longer have this cultish nepotistic style of politics that has characterised Maldives for over 40 years now. And we’re tired of all the corruption that comes along with such a system. It will take a lot of effort on the part of both citizens and politicians to bring about the changes that evidently, everyone is eager to see. Having said that, I wish President Muizzu the best of luck. He’s got his work cut out for him. And if he lets us down, that just gives me more to write about!

(Notice how this conclusion is exactly the same as the one for Solih? I wonder why the author did that 🙃)

You can watch the whole ceremony here: