the following is an excerpt from Hockly’s book which he wrote based on his experience of Maldives in the mid 1920s.

bringing in reform:

The wave of democracy which has made itself felt not only in the many European countries after the war but also in the Orient, finally broke on the shores of the Maldives. . .
In order to proclaim to his subjects and to the world at large how progressive the Maldives were and how eager to follow in the wake of universal democracy the Sultan [Muhammad Sham-ud-Din Iskandar III] intimated that the new Constitution had been granted to the people at his own expressed desire (p. 139).

wasn’t this personal desire professed even by maumoon in revising the consititution? funny how history keeps repeating itself.

salary of ministers:

       The total population of the Maldivian Archipelago, as I have stated previously, is between 70,000 and 80,000. The annual value of trade is about 500,000 [pounds] and the revenue between 30,000 [pounds] and 40,000 [pounds] . A considerable sum from the latter amount is reserved for the Sultan’s Court and his Civil List. The salaries of the Minsiters have, however, been fixed on a scale seemingly out of all proportion to the revenue of the country, and the relative importance of their positions as compared with those of many larger and more opulent States in Europe, and even the Imperial Japanese Government.
       The Prime Minister is in reciept of a salary of Rs. 12,000, or very nearly 1,000 [pounds] per annum, and each of the other six Ministers receives half this amount. (p.144)

      It is a curious fact that very often when a new Constitution is ushered in those in authority seek to make themselves comfortable by fixing large salaries and emoluments for themselves and by creating new posts and appointments under government and increasing salaries of government officials and employees, no matter how slender the resources or how depleted the government coffers may be. (p. 159)

the cabinet under the first democratic constitution (1932):

The Cabinet of Ministers, therefore, was composed of the following:-
Amir Muhammad Farid Didi, the Prime Minister, the son of Amir Haji Abdul Majid Didi, Ranna Banderi Kilegefanu. Amir Hasan Farid Didi, brother of the Prime Minister, was appointed Minister of Finance and of Foreign Affairs. . .
Mohamed Amin Didi, aged twenty-five, son of Ahmed Didi, and therefore a cousin of the Prime Minister, and son-in-law of Husain Didi Salahaudin, Minister of Justice, became Minister for Commerce.
Husain Didi Salhaudin, at one time Chief Justice of the High Court, was made Minister of Justice.
Ibrahim Ali Didi, son of the late Ali Didi, was given the Ministry of Health and Agriculture.
Ahmed Kamil Didi, half brother of Abdul Hamid Didi, the Maldivian Representative in Ceylon, and Abdul Majid Didi, and uncle of the Prime Minister, was appointed Minister of Home Affairs and of Education.
Muhammad Didi, son of the late Amir Ali Dhori Mena Kilegefanu, was made Minister of Public Works.
It will thus be seen that the Constitution while professing to be a democratic institution has made a close family preserve of the Ministry and high offices of the Government and one is inclined to wonder when and how the will of the people is to prevail (p. 145-146).

was this not the same with maumoon’s government? and i can’t help but believe that the same is happening with nasheed’s government.