Comment: Egypt, the Maldives and the democracy experiment

As in the Maldives the Egyptian people lived under a 30 year dictatorship which favored the few against the wishes of the majority.

This dictatorship nurtured and helped build a military industrial complex which in turn helped the dictatorship to remain unchallenged. until the internet revolution that brought President Nasheed and the voice of the majority to power through the ballot box.

In Egypt President Morsi was ousted and arrested by the military, the Muslim Brotherhood targeted, its media outlets closed; policemen with Kalashinkovs dancing on the street.

In the Maldives, the ‘deep state’ nurtured by Gayyoom bought key figures in the military. A 30 million dollar cheque signed by the magnate Gasim Ibrahim was supposedly the key that unlocked whatever inhibitions the military or anyone else may have had against the popular policies of the then democratically-elected government of President Nasheed.