Why democracy may not survive in Maldives

I have been continuously criticizing the Parliament, the Judiciary, and the government on various matters relating to our nation, and kept repeating that democratic reforms that we are trying to so forcefully implant is way too costly for us at this juncture. Its not only me, many have been talking about this, and expressed concern over this issue, and left us all wondering whether this so-called 'democracy' will survive in Maldives. Whether this democracy could die in a very painful death in its infant stage. I believe that there are many signs, and reasons to believe that we may be heading towards a situation where, people will in the end get 'fed up' with this democracy thing, and would prefer things to be a little bit 'un-democratic'.

Our society has become extremely polarized, and even within the opposition, there is persistent fight for power. Genuine efforts by the government top officials are not evident, to consolidate differences in opinion, and move the country towards prosperity. Enough is not done towards addressing the short-falls in the Laws and regulations, and on enforcing the existing ones. Sincerity is not apparent from the parliamentarians and most politicians.

Law and order is not maintained. Young teenagers are getting killed on the street. Gang fights have become so frequent. People have started losing faith and confidence in the Police. And recently, many have become frustrated on the way the government has been handling or managing the issues related to Islam.

Finally, what matters most if are to survive as a country. It's the economy, stupid. Our economy is facing huge fiscal imbalance due to the high government budget deficit in the last few years, and failure to address this issue. We are talking about a deficit which is over 20 percent of GDP, and the highest in the world. We have a current account deficit above $400 million in the past four years. We have an external debt of over $500 million which is borrowed by the government, and further $400 million borrowed by the banks from overseas. So in total an external debt exceeding $900 million, which is same as our GDP. With a budget deficit, and a current account deficit (twin deficit) and a huge a external debt, the economy becomes extremely vulnerable and un-attractive to international investors and aid-providers. The situation becomes worse when we do not see the required fiscal reforms, and lack of any hope for such reforms. There is every reason to believe that the current Constitution may not be able to save us from these problems. Hence, when we finally hit the 'rock-bottom', it is less likely that democracy can save us. In a time of such crisis, we may need to rely on a leader who is more autocratic, and people may feel that we need a leader who can solve our problems, and nothing else.