Domestic Violence in Asia by Emma Fulu

Author:Emma Fulu [Fulu, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781136014086
Google: EVVtAAAAQBAJ
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 13715191
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-09-11T00:00:00+00:00

During a by-election held in 2006, the Adhaalath Party contested in three different areas but failed to secure a single seat. However, although they were not successful in terms of obtaining votes, I believe that they were quite effective in influencing the political debate and pushing the previous government to compromise on certain issues. One of the first campaigns that the party undertook, and won, was against massage parlours and spas in Malé. When Adhaalath first emerged as a political party, massage parlours had been on the increase in Malé and gained notoriety for being places of prostitution. Some parlours were no doubt facades for brothels but a great number were legitimate beauty salons that offered manicures, facials and massages to women. In various rallies the Adhaalath Party gave fierce religious sermons threatening those who ran and frequented such places with hellfire. Eventually the government closed all massage parlours and spas in Malé, including those that were used by women exclusively. The spaces where many women went to relax and spend time with other women had been shut down under the guise of immorality.

The Adhaalath Party is also known to have played a key role in convincing some government departments to drop their ban on wearing the buruga with uniforms. Previously departments such as the Department of Immigration had not allowed women to wear a headscarf with their uniform and had discouraged male staff from growing their beards too long. However, in August 2007 they announced that a uniform with a headscarf had been introduced because of numerous requests from staff (Haveeru News Service 2007b). They were also instrumental in promoting a resolution by parliament to ban Israel’s El Al airline from flying to the Maldives (Keck 2012). The concessions that the MDP government made to the Adhaalath Party despite the fact that they have never received enough votes from the Maldivian public to hold a seat in parliament highlights their political power. In this exact manner, Marcotte (2005: 75) suggests that the power of Islamist’s moral discourse, as a political tool, ‘is illustrated by the various concessions that many governments throughout the Muslim world have made’ to these religious forces. Lahoud and Johns (2005: 2) similarly suggest that while Islamism in its radical form only inspires a minority, ‘it exerts a wide influence in many Muslim countries and across the globe, even among those who do not realize its implications or understand its principles’.

More recently, the Adhaalath Party has achieved greater power and influ-ence. When the first democratic elections were held in the Maldives in 2008, the MDP did not win an outright majority and had to form a coalition with the Islamic Party and the Adhaalath Party in order to take power. With the restructuring of the government, a Ministry of Islamic Affairs was created and Sheikh Mohammed Shaheem Ali Saeed, a member of the Adhaalath Party, was appointed as the State Minister. In May 2010 the Ministry of Islamic Affairs unveiled extensive new amendments to the 1994 Religious Unity Act.

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