Comment: Eyes on the Maldives

How they behave and whether they are magnanimous in victory or defeat will be crucial to the Maldives’ status as a tourist destination and its standing in the world.

As a journalist I have had the privilege of visiting the islands over the last decade and have witnessed their transition from a dictatorship to a democracy and their struggles since to make that democracy work. In 2009 I reported on the first Presidential election for the international press and still remember the euphoria on the streets of Male’ which greeted the election of former President Nasheed and his coalition government. It was a great time to be a Maldivian because the country was filled with hope and optimism for the future.

Since those heady days however, I have reported on too many stories which have cast the Maldives in a bad light. The Swiss couple mocked during their wedding vows, the flogging of a 15-year old girl and the shutting down of the islands spas. But it has been the ongoing political protests and sporadic but very damaging violence on the streets of Male’ which have done the islands’ reputation abroad most harm.