A Fledging Democracy Aims to Find Hope

Democracy in Asian and African nations seems to be a trend of the past year plus. From Egypt, to Libya, Iran, and most recently Syria, social media has opened up windows for a global audience, revealing the inadequacies of authoritarian governments. As Syria goes through their struggles to change a dogmatic governmental system, one country has been lost in the shuffle: The Maldives.

Unknown to some, the Maldives is a country that was released from the hands of the United Kingdom in 1965. It is home to almost 330,000 people and consists of an archipelago of nearly 1,200 islands. It is an interesting country, because it is relatively wealthy due to its luxury based economy, yet has struggled with formulating a blueprint for democracy. In 2008, the first democratic elections were held and Mohamed Nasheed was the optimistic victor. He vowed to change the country and institute meaningful reforms.

But like many fledgling democracies, The Maldives has struggled with corruption. Mr. Nasheed ordered the arrest of a criminal court judge for undermining the new democratic institution, an issue his opponents have largely criticized him for executing.

The newest chapter in this nation is the forced resignation of Mr. Nasheed for former V.P., Mohamed Hassan. Nasheed claims this came as the result of being told to resign at gunpoint, a coup at destroying the democracy. Mr. Nasheed led a protest with his supporters in a march on the capital and these protests were answered with force from the police.

~What I learned from this article was far different from anything else I would have read in mainstream news headlines. The Maldives are simply overlooked compared to issues such as Iran and Syria. But, in my opinion, this is a pretty big story. 330,000 people are affected by the governmental change that has occurred. We can also draw parallels with their situation because we strive to create a fully functioning democracy and a lot of the Maldivians do as well.

This is also a story that is very exemplary of the reporting at the New York Times. It is extremely well-written and within the "cannonball" news spectrum. The political importance and meaning of the events in the Maldives are extremely important in the puzzle for people trying to achieve a fair governmental system. This is why hard news is vital. Stories like these would not otherwise be read on the Internet in which only the "major" news events are taken into account. The newspaper contains a variety of stories, all of which are prevalent and deserve attention. This is not a story that would be read on the Internet without further digging, yet it major global news.