Talking Point

Neither our country, the Maldives, nor our religion Islam, belong to one man. The age of high priests has long gone by. We do not believe in a pope who might dictate religious sentiments according to his mood and understanding of the day.

The right to strike is of course a fundamental human right. The rights is about to be granted in its fullest in the upcoming constitution which awaits ratification soon.

The government has started publishing green papers. The six page document to be circulated through several daily newspapers every week aim at sharing various legislative polices in the making; seeking public feedback; and improving lawmaking by listening to stakeholder input.

I met the media today to allay fears that the draft of the new constitution is being ignored by the government; the president would ultimately return the book for further consideration citing some excuse; and that the presidential elections would in the end be held under the current constitution.

The government today proposed a bill in parliament to amend the Employment Act that is about to come to life on 11 July.

I was appointed to a cabinet berth on 14 July 2005. Today, I complete three years on the job.

On Monday, 14 July, at 10 am, some four representatives of the 5000 petitioners from resorts, met with the president to advocate for their rights. An hour later, some twenty of them met me and repeated the same concerns. Those who met the president were amongst them.

The day I met the representatives of resort staff, they told me several stories. Some of them were distressing

The past two weeks have been a nervous one for me and some of my colleagues in cabinet. Media has been ripe with speculation of cabinet ministers who have 'resigned' or are 'about to resign'. A friend asked me to update my earlier post on 'three years in cabinet'.

When I heard the news of the crowd that had gathered in front of the palace, my immediate reaction was to start switching channels - radio and television alike. I was saddened by the protest. I will explain why.

After nearly two years in committee stage, the police bill has been reported back to parliament, yesterday. It has been improved by carrying out a joint scrutiny of two parliamentary standing committees - namely - the social affairs committee and national security committee.

Last night, I was invited to DhiFM to take part in a continuity show held to celebrate the station's first anniversary. It was good to meet Khaleel, Maan, Masood, and Saleem after a long while.

Happy Independence Day to all Maldivians.

In the run up to the presidential election, all registered political parties have been given 15 minutes of free air time on state radio and television since 10 July 2008. Currently there are eight parties registered in the Maldives and all of them are taking part in the process.

Ending a nervous wait and plugging speculation of all sorts, the president today announced that he would ratify the new constitution on Thursday, 7 August 2008.

Richard Spring is a senior member of the British Conservative Party. In fact, he is the vice chairman of that party. He is also one of the governors of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.