Gayoom Launches Logo, Defends Development Record

President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on Friday launched the logo of his campaign for re-election, ahead of the first polls in which he will face opponents rather than just a yes-no referendum.He also launched a defence of his record on the economy, saying those critical of the country’s economic direction “do not remember” life before the growth of the tourism industry, now the country’s largest.

The meaning of the new logo, which depicts the palm of a hand, remains unclear, but the deputy media coordinator of the ruling Dhivehi Raiyyithunge Party (DRP), Faida Farouk, said: “He always waves to his people...it’s been a gesture from the president ever since he became president.”And the DRP insisted the event, its 29th annual meeting, did not constitute a campaign launch, as regulations forbid campaigning until the Elections Commissioner has set a date for the polls.

Party officials say the president has no campaign team as yet, but in his role as party president he is by default the presidential candidate, and has indicated he will stand.A running mate will be selected at the upcoming DRP Congress in May, with the decision widely seen as a choice between the president’s own family members – such as half-brother Abdullah Yameen, still a DRP member despite leaving government to form the People’s Association political group – and his wife’s family, including brother-in-law and health minister Ilyas Ibrahim.Finance minister Gasim Ibrahim has also been mentioned as a possible running mate, though he is also thought to support the opposition financially.

At Friday’s event, at which the president spoke along with MPs Thasmeen Ali, Mohamed Saleem, Ibrahim Thahir and Moosa Nizar, as well as the head of the party’s Addu women’s group, President Gayoom said he wished to counter the “misinformation” that there had been “no development” during his 29-year rule.“Someone who is 29 or even 35 would not know what it was like before,” said Gayoom. “Our per capita income used to be US $30, now it is US $3,000.”With tourism taking off in the 1970s, shortly before Gayoom came to power in 1978, he has long taken credit for the development which will in 2011 enable Maldives to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status internationally.

But presidential rivals have begun attacking him on the economy, arguing wealth is not redistributed and state budgets unsustainable.And trade body the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said it was “sidelined” by government, and that “major decisions” were being made on an “ad hoc” basis for the sake of short term cash flow.Meanwhile spiralling inflation has led to protests from construction industry leaders, who say they cannot afford to maintain the construction boom.However the president on Friday emphasised rising educational standards, increasing numbers of Maldivians able to study overseas, and “sound planning”, promising increased consultation with the public.

The party also called for volunteers to help in the upcoming campaign, and says its meeting had over 5,000 attendees.Elections are slated for later this year, with the president’s term due to end in November, though an exact date is currently waiting on the completion of the constitutional reform process.