A political protest in the Maldives.
The appointment of a US PR firm to represent the Maldives’ new administration has highlighted continued tensions in the country since the previous leader was ousted.
Mohamed Nasheed, the elected former leader, says he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a military and police coup on 7 Feb 2012.
The regime which replaced him denies there was a coup and has blamed Nasheed for wrongly arresting a judge, sparking protests that lead to his resignation.
In the weeks since the change of power, Amnesty International has denounced violence by the security forces against peaceful protesters.
Now the new government has hired an external PR agency to convince the world that the country is on the mend.
The Maldives Marketing and PR Corporation advertised on April 9 for an ‘international public relations agency to create a positive image of the Maldives and its tourism industry’, following ‘recent negative coverage’.
The advertisement proved divisive, prompting calls for a boycott of the tender. Undeterred, US PR firm Ruder Finn bid for and won the three month contract.
The firm has since been accused of ‘propping up’ the new regime by the former High Commissioner of the Maldives in the UK.
Farah Faizal, who resigned as the High Commissioner following Nasheed’s departure, said: ‘We’re all in favour of encouraging tourism – the country depends on it. But this PR contract has very little to do with tourism.’
She pointed to a requirement in the tender contract for the firm to ‘seed positive stories’ in the media and ‘leverage outcomes from relationships with governments, academics and NGOs.’
The European Commission is mentioned as a target, as are ‘academic institutions, individuals and think tanks,’ and journalists who write about international affairs.
Faizal also pointed out that a specialist travel PR firm, Rooster.co.uk was appointed in March to promote the country as a tourist destination.
‘If Rooster has been appointed, why do the regime also need Ruder Finn?’ she asked. ’This is another example of a multinational lobbying firm helping to prop up a regime under the guise of assisting tourism.’
Ruder Finn has attempted to address concerns about its brief by promising to resign if a national inquiry into the change of power finds the new government took power illegally.
However the Commission of National Inquiry has been criticised by Maldivian NGOs, who want its mandate to be agreed ‘across the political divide’ and for international observers to monitor the inquiry process.
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) – a group of foreign ministers from a number of Commonwealth states including Australia and Canada – also released a statement criticising the Commission as insufficiently independent and impartial. It gave the government four weeks to reform the body or it would consider ‘further and stronger measures.’
‘The Commission is headed by the former defence minister of the man who ruled the Maldives for 30 years as a dictatorship,’ said Faizal.
Ruder Finn is not the first PR firm to accept the controversial Maldives brief.
Hill and Knowlton in the Maldives
UK PR firm Hill & Knowlton was hired by the government of the Maldives in 2004, when the country was led by the authoritarian President Gayoom. Tim Fallon, who had worked on Tony Blair’s 1997 election campaign, headed the account.
The firm’s work did not go down well with campaigners for democracy in the state, who bombarded Fallon’s blog with negative comments after he attempted to justify his actions.
The Daily Telegraph drew parallels with the New Labour apparatus. It described how a ‘strategic communications unit’ pumped out daily press releases announcing the dictatorship’s paper commitments to reform while opponents complained of arbitrary arrests and beatings.
But the Guardian noted that Fallon was credited in other circles with ‘steering the elderly Gayoom away from his Middle-Eastern strongman instincts towards the path of liberal democracy’.
‘One tangible result of Hill & Knowlton’s consultancy is the government’s sudden promise to enact a full-scale overhaul of the Maldivian political system, including judicial reform, free elections and a new constitution,’ the paper added.
In 2008 Nasheed triumphed in democratic elections - the first since President Gayoom assumed power in 1978.
David Hardingham of the UK-based campaign group Friends of Maldives told the Bureau: ’On the whole I would say the involvement of Hill & Knowlton extended the life of the dictatorship for a few years but ultimately (and unwittingly) proved to be instrumental in its ultimate demise.’
Hill & Knowlton’s contract ended with the elections. It later emerged that the firm had amended the Maldives’ Wikipedia entry to remove statements critical of the government.
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May 2nd, 2012 at 8:06 pm (#)
It is tragic that big PR companies only think of money when they take up such briefs. The Amnesty International statements makes one recoil in horror at what is going on in that beautiful country. I hope the people of Maldives get some respite soon. Military regimes are awful.
May 2nd, 2012 at 9:24 pm (#)
I am shocked and appalled. Big PR firms shouldn’t be backing undemocratic governments. Money should’t trump ideology. They might as well back Robert Mugabe’s regime. Absolutely disgusting!
May 2nd, 2012 at 9:46 pm (#)
Dear Alison,
This is from an average Maldivian citizen. What we have here amounts to an insurgency lead by the former President who holds very little support among the people.
What happened on that day described in Amnesty’s report was regrettable but it was sparked by nationwide acts of criminal damage, arson and threats to public safety. The former President was ousted by the near unanimous support of the Maldivian people as you can see by the country’s stability and the common man’s disinterest in alarmist propaganda and conspiracy theories concocted by a man that was never really voted into office on a singular political platform.
Please read about our history and please let us decide our future. Nasheed may have some support in the West but he’s about as popular as a fox in a hen coop down here.
May 2nd, 2012 at 10:57 pm (#)
When Nasheed was in power he used government funds to hire PR companies to make him and his movie ‘The Island President’ popular, hoping to woo the international community in the process.The anti-tourism campaign by Nasheed & his financial backer ‘Friends of Maldives’s’ gonna damage the livelihood of us ordinary Maldivian citizens. He is nothing more than a corrupt politician, hungry for more money and power.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:19 pm (#)
As an Australian it is shocking to learn that the ethics and morality of a PR firm such as yours would stoop that low in representing a regime that is not even being recognized by our sister Commonwealth nations.
Did Ruder Finn Ltd actually do its homework properly before taking on this task? Has it kept track of the current political issues in Maldives and the international condemnation of the coup d’etat by the Commonwealth countries? More worryingly, is Ruder Finn aware of the insults which the religious leaders of the current government has heaped upon Christians, Jews and people of other faith? Are you aware of the fact that these very same people who are hiring you have called for the death and dissolution of Israel and the people of Jewish faith? Are you aware of the extent of judeophobia, anti-semitism and racial hatred of this very government that you are choosing to represent? We Jewish citizens know very well what pain and suffering the Jewish people had to go throughout history. We, and I am sure that our Jewish friends across the world would be appalled that a PR firm which has close ties with the Jewish communities would actually support a government that is so anti-Semitic and judeophobic. Shame on you Ruder Finn!
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:52 pm (#)
Really worrying to learn that a regime is paying a PR company to spin their way out of trouble. Disgusting behaviour, I will not go to any resort connected to the alleged coup.
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:54 pm (#)
Unbelieavble. This is all the hallmarks of a dictatorship returning to power and mislead the world!
May 2nd, 2012 at 11:56 pm (#)
Our family holiday has been tainted by this news. Trouble in Paradise should be the headline and Ruder and Finn should resign the account.
May 3rd, 2012 at 10:06 am (#)
A smart PR agency will always gain itself PR coverage, as Ruder Finn have done in this case. It is entirely plausible that they fully intend to “pull out” of the contract on ethical grounds, which will also place a positive spin on their “ethics”.
According to their own moral and business compass
“Ruder Finn is organized around four strategic pillars that reflect its key areas of leadership: Health & Wellness, Corporate & Public Trust………..
Taking a brief with a regime certainly accused of taking power illegally, and proven to have used brutal force against its public, does not align with its own values.
May 3rd, 2012 at 10:27 am (#)
Alison.
Who do you think you are?
I am a Maldivian form the Maldives.
I dont support any poitical party.
Bt the only thing whic makes us “RECOIL IN HORROR” is the disruptive hooliganism done in the name of “peaceful protests” in the strrets of Male’.
We are not under a military regime.
PLeas etakl truth ans sense, when commenting!
May 3rd, 2012 at 10:34 am (#)
SAD to see people just jump to conclusion on Stupid articles such as this written even with out any proper research in to the issue. Since the violence on 8th There have not been any major issues in Maldives.
Further the current government had already been endorsed by the Parliament. There is NO LEGAL grounds to say any of the above.
Be Responsible when publishing articles.. Any stupid person can write yet the responsible writers are the one who will be remembered.
May 3rd, 2012 at 10:48 am (#)
As an English National I am shocked and horrified that a US PR firm would represent the regime especially in light of the Amnesty International report. Come on America sort it out.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:24 pm (#)
this is crazy,,,,
im a maldivian and i have been following these events quite closely in the maldives.. sad to say that mr nasheed was ousted by a military coup..because before we did not have separate military and police it was only divided few years ago..but on that day they all came together with the backing from former dictator and his allies and protested against the government. why? because during the dictatorship days all the health benefits bonuses were given to them and it was like that until nasheed beat dictator gayyoom in 2008.. bu nasheed tried to give health insurance etc equally to everybody in the country…result!!!!! he has to leave office becouse military and police hav the power guns tear gas yo name it.. so rudd finn or what ever it is,,, you might can hide the truth from people in other countries but we the maldivians will never forget what happened…and for every bodies info: police or military protesting against leagally elected government by the people is totally against the maldivian constitution.
May 3rd, 2012 at 5:55 pm (#)
Unbelievable! Why a PR firm such as Ruder Finn would do such an appalling thing is beyond me. It’s revolting! We have seen the capabilities of the current regime in Maldives when they insulted our Head of State. Oh yes! We have seen the video! We keep up with information from Amnesty International and the Commonwealth as well as the United Nations about how the religious leaders in this regime also derogated our faith and beliefs and called us infidels! Are the Maldivians who are commenting here really going to deny and tell us foreigners that what occured in the Maldives on the 7th of Feb is not a coup d’ etat? My suspicions are that they have no legal precedences or the knowledge to understand the concept of a coup.
Yet the most bizzare thing is that they are telling us that we do not understand the situation and that there are no major issues in Maldives. Do they think that we can’t read and write? My dear fellows, English is our mother tongue. We can read, write and understand English better than you. And yes, we have read your Constitution which is also available in the English translation. I don’t suppose you have taken that into consideration. Please don’t insult our intelligence and trying to box us into your mentality.
The hilarious thing is, after all the names you Maldivians call us, yet you want us to come to your country and spend our money on you and a government whose human rights records are shot to high heaven? Fat chance of that happening from now on! Shame on you Ruder Finn for promoting a farcical government and a blatant violation of the law in a small country!
May 3rd, 2012 at 6:28 pm (#)
well…just a short reply to ahmed, hameed n hasrath’s comments…im surprised to hear the comments, complete lies…ahmed was telling the actions of police on the 8th of February was due to the “nationwide acts of criminal damage”, be honest, can u you justify the demolition of MDP haruge(office) by the police on uniform on the night of 6th february, it was while nasheed was in power, what happened when teh polcie and defence force people break in to teh television maldives compound while nasheed was still in power on teh 7th feb, everything was on broad daylight, live broad cast on teh VTV and dhitv, even a 6 year old kid know what is meant by a coup, you might not know, im not an MDP registered member, but im oppose to teh coup, and when you talk of opposition supporters protesters led to fall of nasheed’s regime, what a mere lie, not more than 700 people was out on streets for 22 days against nasheed’s regime in early february, these videos are still on youtube, any one can see, check thsi fb link for all photos [http://www.facebook.com/KulaYellow?ref=ts]
dont you see how much people comes out in support of ex president when he is out on streets, i will explain what nasheed has done in his 3 years where maumoon was not able to do in 30 years, nasheed constructed 55 harbours in55 islands, fourteen sewerage systems in 14 islands, 16 mosques completed,another 14 under construction, 2000 flats completed, another 8500 flats started, one domestic airport completed in fuvahmulah, B.Dharavandhoo airport 85% completed, thimarfushi airport almost to be started, thimarafushi, dhidhoo, hinnavaru and 2 more islands land reclaimed, every maldivian given a health schmeme of USD 6485, every divorced mother given USD 130.00, every disabled person given USD 130.00, every elderly person(over 65 years) given USD 150.00, whatelse can a president do in 3 years whne teh opposition controls teh parliament and was trying hell bent to block all developments…there’s more i can write but these hypocrites will not be able to listen or read…i wish mr.nasheed was president for last 30 years, we will live head high…
May 4th, 2012 at 8:48 am (#)
Ruder Finn gets $150.000 per month to sell the dictatorial police state to the world. At the same time the public health insurance of Maldives is cut off.
Ruder Finn explains “there is no need to verify the facts, we just distribute information”.
Facts : coup d’etat was live on TV – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOURtUhS5O0
Facts : dictator Maumoon and his coup-ians murdered already 169 of our brothers in their first tenure
Facts : women in custody police are sexually abused.
Facts : 1104 out of 3000 police got (double) prromotion as reward, plus 2 years cash lump sum plus housing plus impunity
Facts : same dictators parties submitted bill to not allow ElAL landing rights in Maldives
Facts : dictators parties accused president of bringing in secretly Jewish religion in country
Facts : RuderFinn has no ethical shame left
May 4th, 2012 at 9:56 pm (#)
Agree with Ismail its all clear here daylight coup happened here , thought the current government try to cover up everything, current gov ready to withdraw from commenwealth no matter the concequences, we are ready at terror, only our hope is commenwealth while current gov supportive parliament member insult them .
May 5th, 2012 at 10:04 pm (#)
I agree with Ismail this nation is goin down for another 30 years for dictatorship & also I’m Maldivian I can’t understand how our people is thinking again there are eating our money so all of the ordinary people has to go and beg from wealthly rich people & politician.international body has to pressure Maldives goverment otherwise nothing will happen because they have parliament 44 seat to pass everything how they like and that’s how parliament votered for vice president and 14 cabinet members this is how they running this country.Now they have already bought 4 MDP top figures thats there plan breaking the biggest party in Maldives then they can eat Maldivians money so in future there will be super rich & super poor Maldivians hope it wouldn’t happen.