Day: February 5, 2012

Parliament security committee meeting to resolve political instability breaks down as MPs argue

Opposition protests continued on the streets of Male’ on Saturday night, while parliament’s National Security Committee (NSC) meeting to resolve the political instability was dismissed abruptly after heated arguments broke out between opposition and ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentarians.

Opposition protests have continued every night since January 16, after the Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed was arrested by military forces and detained at a training facility in Kaafu Atoll Girifushi – an unprecedented move that has led to a judicial impasse, intensified by political polarisation.

Home Minister Hassan Afeef and Defence Minister Tholhath Ibrahim Kaleyfaanu were summoned to the first session of the meeting and questioned by the opposition MP’s about the arrest of Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed on January by military forces, which has subsequently led to consecutive opposition protests calling for his immediate release.

In response, the Defence Minister interjected that the judge is not under arrest, and that he is being “supervised to ensure national security”.

He avoided MP’s repeated requests to explain the reasons for the judge’s arrest, claiming that reasons have been explained in a previous public statement which was aired on state TV channel three days after the arrest. Afeef at the time had accused the judge of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, stating that the executive had been compelled to act to protect the constitution. The judicial watchdog – the body mandated to investigate and act on such allegations – had complied with a civil court injunction filed by the judge against his own investigation.

Several opposition MPs walked out of the meeting, complaining that the ministers did not answer their questions.

In his statement the Defence Minister revealed that police sent a letter to the armed forces on January 16 “requesting assistance to carry out its legal duty under article 71 of the Police Act, stating that the Criminal Court was not cooperating with police and that as a consequence of Judge Mohamed’s obstructing police work, the country’s internal security was threatened and police were unable to maintain public order and safety.”

Therefore, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercised authority under chapter nine of the constitution and the Armed Forces Act of 2008 to take the judge into custody, he said, disputing that the judge’s detention was unconstitutional.

Tholhath added that MNDF would provide assistance to ensure public safety, and that the consecutive protests and unrest had jeopardised it.

Meanwhile, Afeef observed that those accused of causing the current unrest and destroying public property were swiftly being released by the judges, thus encouraging more unrest.

“Public safety is being lost because of judges’ actions,” Afeef concluded.

However, speaking at the NSC meeting’s second session, Judicial Service Commission (JSC) President and Supreme Court judge Adam Mohamed insisted that the current crisis had not been caused by the incompetence of the commission.

He claimed that the commission was executing its duties duly. The “earlier environment did not allow the commission to work,” Mohamed claimed – a comment directed at the former President’s member of the JSC, Aishath Velezinee, who had openly protesting against the unconstitutional appointment of unqualified judges, delays in investigating allegations against judges – including the chief judge – and politically biased decisions of the JSC. She was dismissed from the position in May 2011.

Velezinee  attended the committee meeting with a box full of papers on the judiciary, and maintained her stance that public has “lost confidence in the courts due to the JSC’s failure to take action against the chief judge”, and due to the reappointment of judges with life time tenure in violation of the constitution.

Velezinee has previously alleged that Abdulla Mohamed was at the heart of a “silent coup to hijack the judiciary”, with the complicity of opposition MPs seeking to prevent cases against them moving through court.

The NSC meeting heated up, after opposition MP Abdu Raheem objected to the summoning of JSC members to the national security committee.

Raheem claimed that the JSC must be summoned to parliament’s independent commissions committee, and the NSC’s meeting should be continued under the advice of Consul General.

Committee chair MDP MP Ali Waheed interjected that anyone can be summoned to the committee for questioning and adjourned the meeting after repeated attempts to maintain order failed as MPs continued arguing.

Meanwhile, out on the streets, the opposition continued to call for the release of Judge Mohamed and the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed. The protests began near the Progressive Part of Maldives (PPM) camp, as pockets of MDP activists obstructed the rally, leading to mild confrontations which were controlled by the police.

The police comfirmed 16 were arrested last night.

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INIA remains cheapest airport in region “by half”: Transport Minister

GMR will lower fuel charges by US$0.05 a litre on all domestic flights and raise it the same amount for international flights at Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

Several airlines, including Qatar Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines, have meanwhile voiced concerns over the recent hike in set airport fees including landing and ground handling charges.

In response, the Transport Ministry has said that even with price changes INIA remains the cheapest airport in the region “by 60 to 80 percent” – and claims that some airlines have not been paying their dues.

“Doha, Dubai, Tivandrum – while they all charge US$3,000 turn-around fees, Maldives’ INIA was only charging US$1,080,” Transport Minister Adhil Saleem told Minivan News. “Even with a fifty percent increase in fees the total charge of US$1,500 is still half of what is being charged everywhere else in the region.”

Saleem noted that INIA’s rates had not changed since 1994, however in that time salaries had increased four times and development projects had been contracted. He added that the price changes – initiated by Maldives Airlines Companies Limited (MACL) and not GMR – should not have come as a surprise.

“In February 2011 MACL informed all airlines that the rates would increase in November, effectively giving them nine months’ notice. There has been no price change by GMR,” he said.

Yet several carriers including Qatar Airways and Sri Lankan Airlines have expressed concerns over the price changes and suggested they would make changes to their routes, reducing services to the Maldives.

Qatar CEO Akbar Al Bakr last week told Reuters News Agency that the airline was “dismayed” over what it understood to be GMR’s plan to increase the handling fee by 51 percent at some future date, and suggested such a move would “threaten Qatar Airways’ continued presence in the Maldives.”

GMR officials are reportedly meeting with CEOs of airlines serving the Maldives. Two airlines contacted by Minivan News did not wish to comment, including Qatar.

“The issue,” Saleem told Minivan News, “is that some airlines have not paid their dues to GMR in nine months. No airport can go on without payment.”

INIA CEO Andrew Harrison later clarified through GMR’s spokesperson that Qatar has an outstanding debt due to its refusal to pay the higher rates. Minivan News understands that GMR has requested Qatar pay cash for today’s flights, while other airlines are in the process of settling their payments with the airport.

Some have suggested that concerns raised by groups such as Qatar also stem from a drop in demand as the low season approaches. Saleem said that Sri Lankan’s strategy had always been to boost tourism numbers in its own turf.

“We believe the London flights were operated for Sri Lanka to achieve its tourism target. They’ve changed their summer schedule to this effect,” he said, explaining that the airline may cut down on direct flights to Maldives as a result, but that this was rather a matter of scheduling.

Responding to  concern that reductions in carrier services would damage the tourism industry, Saleem pointed out that airline changes are a reflection of the already-changing tourism demographic.

Last year Chinese arrivals trumped all other tourist groups to the Maldives, while the Maldives’ traditional European market continued to slump under the West’s ongoing economic pressures.

“It’s a changing world,” Saleem said, noting that local airline Mega Maldives has expressed interest in expanding east to Japan. “The numbers from the East are rising, so it’s possible that the major Western carriers don’t have the demand to continue the same flight frequency that they did before. Singapore will be doubling its flights by 50 percent to 14 flights a week in March,” he said.

GMR spokesman Amir Ali reinforced that concerns over the price hike are misinformed. “There are concerns, but some people are using it in a political game,” he said.

Late in 2011 GMR’s intention to implement a US$25 (Rf385.5) Airport Development Charge (ADC) was blocked by the Civil Court, while minority opposition Dhivehi Quamee Party (DQP) campaigned against the industrial giant with a booklet titled “Handing the Airport to GMR: The Beginning of Slavery.” The government has since appealed the court’s decision, stating that it is obliged to honor its contractual relationship with GMR.

Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) Secretary General ‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim agrees that INIA’s rates have been remarkably cheap for the region, but believes that the price hike – and ensuing negotiations with airlines – are a delicate business.

Although GMR “inherited” the current change in prices from MACL, “GMR’s strategy is to make as much money as possible any way they can – that’s business. But if it’s not done right then it’s not going to work. This has been too much, too fast,” Sim claimed.

According to Sim, the two overarching issues are the pace and method of the price hike. Rather than raising set fees dramatically during the high season, Sim suggests introducing the change in phases. He also recommends requesting payment post-service.

“In Singapore people are charged after they’ve seen the development and its benefits. People want to see what they are paying for, and it seems to be working alright,” he observed.

Pointing to the Maldives’ limited economy, Sim said airport development and fees “have to be weighed with the reality that the Maldives is totally dependent on tourism.”

Minister Saleem offered assurances that the Maldives’ appeal would continue to draw customers. “I’m sure there will be other airlines wanting to come in, especially as the demographic shifts,” he said.

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Britain begged India to accept aid money: Telegraph

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last year asked the UK to cease giving aid to the country’s booming economy, but relented after being begged to take the money for fear of “grave political embarrassment”, reports the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

“We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development exercises [expenditure],” Mukherjee told the upper house of Indian parliament, during question time, adding that the government wanted to give it up.

India is the top recipient of UK foreign aid, according to the Telegraph expose. The UK has given £1 billion in aid to India in the last five years and has earmarked a further £600 million in aid by 2015.

Projects from Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) are mired in controversy, reports the Telegraph. They include a £118,000 program to install satellite tracking on municipal buses in Bhopal – years before the technology was used in the UK – and program to deliver 7000 televisions to schools despite the lack of electricity.

Amid a surging anti-corruption movement in India, the Telegraph alleges that £70 million disappeared from one DFID-funded project along, and that £44,000 of British aid was “allegedly siphoned off by one project official to finance a movie directed by her son.”

Junior Development Minister Alan Duncan claimed that cutting off British aid to India “would mean that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people, will die who otherwise could live,” according to the Telegraph.

The admission by India is significant, implying India’s ascension as an aid donor in the region rather than a recipient, despite its own extremes of poverty and wealth. India now donates almost as much in bilateral development as it receives, according to the Telegraph’s report, of which the Maldives is a key beneficiary.

Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) was donated to the Maldives by India, along with military helicopter, scholarships and copious financial assistance, among other interests. An Indian company, GMR, has the country’s single largest foreign investment in the US$400 million renovation and upgrade of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), while the growing mid-market tourism industry is looking towards the huge Indian middle class as a wealthy market for the Maldives tourism product on the country’s doorstep.

“The Maldives is perhaps one of India’s closest partners,” observed The Indian High Commissioner Dynaneshwar Mulay during India’s recent Republic Day celebrations.

Cooperation also extends to the military, with the installation of a coastal radar array plugged directly into the Indian defence network.

More recently, Indian interest in the Maldives has been challenged by rival China, which conspicuously opened its embassy in Male’ last year during the SAARC Summit.

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