A case concerning the decision to allow the company developing Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to deduct an Airport Development Concession (ADC) from government fees has been forwarded to the country’s Civil Court.
The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) has alleged that former Maldives Airport Company Ltd (MACL) Chairman ‘Bandhu’ Ibrahim Saleem agreed to deduct the ADC without approval from the company’s board, according to local media. As all three stakeholders had not signed the changes to the agreement, it could not be considered legally binding, the ACC reportedly claimed in the Haveeru newspaper.
The Airport Development Charge (ADC) was intended to be a US$25 fee charged to outgoing passengers from January this year, as stipulated in the contract signed with GMR in 2010. The anticipated US$25 million the charge would raise was to go towards the cost of renovating INIA’s infrastructure.
The ADC charge was deemed an additional tax last year after the then-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) filed a case with the Civil Court. The court went on to rule against the charging of the ADC.
GMR subsequently deducted $8.1million, the money it would have received from the ADC, from its first quarter concessionary payments to the government.
Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim has confirmed plans to bring a small crocodile from abroad to replace the large crocodile which has been caged at the capital’s children park for almost 15 years.
Following its capture in 1998, the then almost four-feet long Kinboo (a local term for the animal) was put in the cage by the government for public entertainment and has remained so ever since.
It is now almost 10 feet long and has outgrown the cage which has not been expanded. The water in the cage barely covers its belly while its long powerful tail has to be curled up to fit inside the roofed-cage that is no larger than 15 by 10 feet-an apparent violation of both international and national laws forbidding animal cruelty.
When Minivan News asked Defence Minister Nazim if the ministry has any plans to address the crocodile enclosure issue, he responded: “We have planned to do something with the Kinboo. We are going the send the big Kinboo to a zoo abroad and bring a small Kinboo to keep in the cage instead.”
Former government’s have also said the same about sending the croc to a zoo abroad following occasional public calls Kinboo’s immediate release. But none of the times, the talks transformed into actions and it is yet unclear what the future holds for the large reptile in captivity.
Nazim noted that “two countries have shown interest.” But he stopped short from revealing the names of the interested countries claiming the discussion are underway and ministry hopes the costs of transfer will be covered by the new host country.
According to the Minister, a smaller crocodile will be brought to replace the bigger one because a lot of children enjoy watching the the creature in its cage.
“It is useful for educating the children. So we are planning to bring a small Kinboo.” he noted. “When it grows big we will send it off abroad again.”
However, in 2010 a group of children from Billabong High School went onto a mission to save the kinboo from its captivity.
Aishath Suha, a grade eight student told Minivan News at the time that she volunteered for the operation “because I don’t want to see kimboo suffer.”
Nazim says that environmental NGO’s and animal rights groups will be consulted before taking a decision on replacing the Kinboo.
Two dead, one alive
Meanwhile, Minivan News asked why the ministry plans to bring a small crocodile from abroad as recently three small crocodiles had been taken by islanders and police from Maldivian waters and reportedly kept under the watch of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF).
“There are no crocodiles alive on any islands. The only one is in the Children Park,” the Minister claimed.
However, after phone calls to the three islands; Shaviyani Komandoo, Thaa Vilufushi and Lhaviyani Naifaru – where the Kinboo’s were captured from, Minivan News found out that two of the crocodiles died while under the watch of MNDF officials and only one still remains alive.
According to an islander from Shaviyani Komandoo, following the capture of the two-foot croc from the waters, MNDF officials came to the island and took it under their watch saying it is a dangerous creature.
“That crocodile was very beautiful. Some of the islanders even wanted to keep it. But they took it away and last I heard it has died,” he observed. “Some people say it starved to death because the officials didn’t feed it,” he added.
The surviving crocodile was arrested by the police on Vilufushi island of Thaa atoll. Following the capture of four-foot crocodile, the island council refused to hand over it to the MNDF and provided it shelter in a makeshift water tank on the ground.
“With generous aid from some islanders we are keeping the croc well fed. A lot of children go and people go to see it,” said Sulaiman Habeeb, Deputy Director at Vilufushi Council office.
He added that the council wants to provide better condition for the crocodile, but they don’t have the budget and resources.
Speaking at the review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in New York, the Maldives’ Ambassador to the United Nations Ahmed Sareer pledged his country’s continued dedication to the ongoing fight against terrorism.
“Government placed the prevention of violence at the forefront of its agenda. Yet, to succeed in this effort, the Government seeks to establish partnerships for sharing intelligence…and coordinate efforts to eradicate terrorism,” said Sareer.
Sareer then went on to detail his efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, to raise awareness of democratic rights and responsibilities, and to promote development.
The Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, being reviewed for the third time, was adopted by the General Assembly in 2006 and represents the first time all member states have agreed on a common strategic approach to tackle terrorism.
The People’s Majlis will on Monday consider the appointment of the three cabinet members who failed to gain the approval of the Government Accountability Committee last month, local media has reported.
On June 11, Dr Mohamed Muiz, Dr Mariyam Shakeela, and Dr Ahmed Jamsheed failed to gain the approval of the 11 member committee, despite it being dominated by parties from the unity government, although the committee did approve Dhiyana Saeed as the Minister for Gender.
The posts for the new portfolios with the Ministries of Health, Housing, and Environment were left to the full Majlis to deliberate upon after pro-government Jumhoory Party (JP) MP Alhan Fahmy voted with the Maldivian Democratic Party committee members.
Just before the June vote, the JP announced its intention to forward its new President Dr Ibrahim Didi as Health Minister, the post currently held by Jamsheed whilst he awaits his re-appointment to the slightly altered post.
Alliance Française Maldives (AFM) celebrated World Music Day for the fourth time in the Maldives, in a music festival this weekend featuring local artists and a mesmerising performance by Abaji, a multi-talented musician famous for his proficiency in playing wide range of unique instruments.
World Music Day originated in France and through the years it has spread to more than 110 countries which celebrate it every year with amateurs and professionals presenting their music together.
This year’s stage for Fête de la Musique (World Music Day) was set at the Sultan Park on June 29, well attended by both locals and foreigners. From the loud thumps and beat of Bodu Beru group Habeys, to a sizzling performance by all-girls rock band Majenta, the crowd was enjoyed the music in a chilled environment.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the festival was the performance by the French vocalist Abaji. The musician of Greek, Armenian, and Turkish descent presented an array of unique musical instruments with such perfect ease and vocal rendition, that left the crowd gathered near the stage speechless.
“That is so amazing. How does he do that?” asked one spectator as the crowd cheered.
According to the Alliance Française, the event setting gives the original ambiance of Fête de la Musique in France, as during the world music day every musician is free to express their artistic talent in public places such as streets, parks, or squares, creating a festive atmosphere.
Alliance Française is an NGO based in Male’ since 2009, teaching the French language and giving an insight into French culture, and promoting cultural diversity. With over 500 students in the city, the NGO is teaching French in public and private schools, in resorts, and conducts evening French classes for adults in the National Library.
According to the AFM 2012 website, the group has chosen to organise monthly events with a view to maintain coherence within the francophone and francophile groups, to facilitate meetings among like minded individuals and spark creative projects.
Founded in Paris in 1884, Alliance Française is a non-profit association giving the opportunity to anyone to learn French language and enjoy the culture of French speaking-countries worldwide, with over 1000 centres across 136 countries.
More information is available on French lessons and cultural events at the Alliance Française website.
Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Interim Vice President Umar Naseer has welcomed the growth of the Jumhoree Party (JP), stating his belief that the party is likely to split the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) vote in future elections.
His comments were said to have been in response to rumours that PPM MPs were considering defecting to the JP.
“Lately rumors have been circulating that some members of PPM’s parliamentary group are planning to switch parties. Many have called me to clarify about the matter. I would like to assure all members of the party that no member of our parliamentary group plan to crossover to another political party, and will never do,” Haveeru reported Naseer as saying.
“JP especially is adding many new members, which is not something of concern to PPM. It’s not like they are removing parts of PPM’s roof to complete theirs – rather, they are removing parts of MDP’s roof to complete their roof,” Naseer was reported to have said.
Feydhoo constituency MP Alhan Fahmy who has recently moved from the MDP to the JP said that he did not wish to respond to these comments. When switching parties, the former Vice President of the MDP was accompanied by the former MDP President, Dr Ibrahim Didi, and former MDP Secretary General Hassan Shah.
The JP – led by prominent Maldivian businessman and MP Ibrahim Gasim – currently has six members in the People’s Majlis, whilst the PPM – led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – has 18 seats in the house.
The most recent statistics from the Elections Commission (EC) show that the JP has lost six members in the past three weeks, whilst the PPM has gained 322, bringing the official membership figures to 5,914 and 16,565 respectively.
The EC figures also show that the JP has 2,175 forms waiting to be processed. The PPM is shown to have 1,211.
The JP Registrar General Mohamed ‘Inthi’ Imthiyaz told Haveeru earlier this month that the main obstacle increasing the party membership was the speed at which the forms could be processed.
Vice President of the EC Ahmed Fayaz said that the processing of the forms may take a few weeks due to the limited resources available to the commission.
Forms must be checked to ensure the identity of the party member before they can be officially affiliated to one particular party but said it was not common for forms to be rejected.
Should the unprocessed forms be assumed as valid, the membership of the top four parties in terms of popularity would be follows:
Maldivian Democratic Party – 48,843 – 29 seats in the Majlis
Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) – 27,706 – 15 seats
Progressive Party of Maldives – 17,776 – 18 seats
Jumhoree Party – 8,089 – 6 seats
The MDP is currently the sole opposition party in the 77 member chamber. It has lost 35 party members in the past month as well as suffering from a number of defecting MPs since the resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed on February 7.
Nasheed recently received the support of 66 percent of his party’s members last month to be the party’s nominee for the next presidential elections.
The PPM’s parliamentary group constituency leader Abdullah Yameen told Haveeru yesterday that his party is the most likely to win a presidential election without having to form a coalition.
“But the PPM must declare a suitable and generally accepted presidential candidate. Then we can certainly avoid a second round, and win the polls in the first round itself,” Yameen said.
The party’s presidential primaries are to be held next February. President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hussein maintains that he can hold fresh elections no earlier than July 2013 without a constitutional amendment.
The largest party, by membership, in the current unity government, the DRP, was keen to stress to Minivan News last week that it had only signed an official coalition agreement with the JP.
“There has been a slight confusion. No coalition agreement was signed – we are part of a national unity government after having accepted an invitation from President Mohamed Waheed Hassan,” explained DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef.
Shareef’s comments followed the announcement of a joint parliamentary group, including all pro-government parties other than the DRP.
Days earlier, MP for unity government party the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) declared its cooperation with the DRP to have come to an end following what it perceived to have been DRP support for an MDP proposed motion in the Majlis.
The DRP was founded by former President Gayoom to contest in the country’s first ever multi-party elections in 2008. The party split after internal ructions in 2011 resulting in the formation on the PPM.
The PPM’s official representation in the Majlis was zero until April, when Ahmed Shareef won the party’s first seat in the Thimarafushi by-election.
Since that time, as well as being allowed to add MPs previously registered as ‘independents’ to its parliamentary group, the PPM has benefitted from a number of MPs crossing the floor from other parties.
Former President Gayoom believes that the party’s support will eventually see its official membership figures reach 30,000.
The President’s Office today announced it had begun implementing a work ethics code for all the political appointees except cabinet ministers.
According to the ethics code published in Dhivehi, those bound by the new ethics code are those appointed under article 115(f) of the constitution, by a letter of appointment from the president or cabinet secretary.
The ethics code dictates the code of conduct of the political appointees, their dress code, work timing and procedures for resignation.
The Section 3(c) states that all appointees ‘should’ accept and respect all policy decisions of the government.
It further includes, “Even if there happens to be a difference of opinion on such a policy, the appointee should refrain from expressing their opinions to individuals, the public and the media, and should refrain from writing about it.”
The Section 3(d) also dictates similar requirements for not expressing views that oppose the policy of the government views that are contrary to the appointee’s responsibilities.
Apart from these restrictions, section 3 also demands that all appointees must maintain government secrets both while employed and after they leave the position.
Section 7 of the ethics code states that all appointees should turn up to work before 8:30 am in the morning except during the month of Ramadan, where the start time is 9:30 am.
Similar to the civil servants, according to the section 8 of the ethics code, appointees are also entitled to a 30 day vacation after one year on the job and 10 days ’emergency’ leave, while female staff are entitled to 60 days maternity leave.
Section 9 of the ethics code demands that all the appointees must dress accordingly and should always be at their best turn out while in public.
The section specifically states that men should wear either short or long sleeve shirts with tie, trousers and shoes for men, while female appointees should be in attire that is acceptable to the government.
The President’s office stated that all the appointees must begin to follow the code from July 1, onwards.
Speaking to Minivan News, President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said that the government believed that such a work ethics code was important and necessary.
“Political appointees are also paid by the state, so the government believes that there should be some regulations on the work of political appointees,” he said.
He added that there previously there was no regulation regarding the work ethics of the political appointees and that he believed that such regulation would increase the “accountability and public confidence” in the political appointees.
The ethics code is the first of such regulations that has been imposed on political appointees in the country.
The code comes at a time where the government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan has been under heavy criticism from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), who alleged that the appointees are family members and activists who took part in the “coup that ousted the democratically elected president.”
Speaking to Minivan News previously, MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy said that many appointees were “senior activists in leading the coup d’état.”
“Many of them were present in Republican Square on February 7. They are unqualified and inexperienced,” he said at the time.
However, Riza at the time dismissed the allegations stating that the positions were awarded based on political party affiliation and qualifications, not based on “political activity or their presence at a certain place” which he believed reflected President Waheed’s desire to “formulate a national unity government”.
This article first appeared on Dhivehisitee. Republished with permission.
Until Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik took oath of office as President of the Maldives on 7 February, most people did not know much about him, and even more could not care less.
The generally shared impression of Waheed was that he is an educated man who drily stuck to policy, the ex-UNICEF man with a PhD from Stanford. As Vice President he was delegated drugs and environment as focus topics, both issues of great national concern. He seemed to keep well out of the political intrigue and chaos that surrounded him; and, unlike most Members of Parliament and the increasing band of petty politicians, largely managed to stay out of newspaper gossip, and the extremely productive Maldivian grapevine.
He has friends in high places, even if of dubious credentials, like the vacillating British tycoon Sir Richard Branson who first criticised Waheed then admired him then suggested a middle-ground; and the mysterious ‘Malaysian consultant’, Dr Ananda Kumarasiri. Kumarasiri is a best-selling Buddhist author who, when he arrived in Male’ shortly after 7 February, was described as ‘a passing friend.’ But he was allowed to interrupt Waheed during an official press conference, and to speak for him in Sri Lanka.
Abroad, the general impression Waheed seems to have left is that of an affable, likeable man. Even when disagreeing with him, Waheed’s foreign acquaintances make a point of saying they like him.
Branson said, for instance:
It was a real pleasure meeting you and your delightful wife when I was last in the Maldives…
From knowing you, I would assume that you were given no choice and that it was through threats that you have ended up in this position.
And Mike Mason, Nasheed’s Energy Advisor, said this:
I don’t think Dr Waheed is a bad man – actually I like him a lot personally.
Perhaps these men see a side of Waheed that the general Maldivian public do not. Certainly, his interactions with the foreign press are rather jovial and quite the opposite of the dull occasions they are back home.
Truth is, the general Maldivian public did not quite know who Dr Waheed was, and nobody really cared. But, now that he has put himself in the Presidential limelight, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is substantial discord between the image people had constructed of Waheed and the details of his personality emerging since he assumed office on 7 February.
At an early press conference as President, for example, he was asked about allegations of a coup. Waheed replied,”Do I look like a man who would stage a coup d’état?”
Waheed’s belligerence towards those against his presidency came as a shock to most people. A popular recrimination of Waheed among Maldivians is that he is a quitter. In 1989 he ran for Parliament but quit and left the country in 1991 when the going got tough under Gayoom’s repression. He only returned in 2005. People call him ‘Fili Waheed’, ‘Waheed who fled.’
In the last 141 days Waheed has shown that this label no longer applies, if it ever did. He makes his determination to stay President until November 2013 crystal clear. He spelled it out for the BBC earlier this month. Even if CoNI [Commission of National Inquiry] finds that there was a coup on 7 February, unless his direct involvement was proven, he would not leave the post. Even if it means battling it out in court.
If they [the commission] find out that I have had a role in bringing about a coup, then I will definitely resign.
But if I have no role – if somebody else has done it – it doesn’t mean I have to resign, according to the law of the Maldives.
People were properly introduced to this new aspect of Waheed’s personality on 24 February when he gave a rousing speech in ‘Defence of Islam’ to a thousand-strong crowd of supporters. Gone was the refined gentleman of the world, the Westernised academic. Here was an Islamic warrior, calling everyone to join his Jihad and proclaiming Allah had made him President. Again, it wasn’t just words, but his actions; the whole package jarred sharply with the public perception of Waheed.
The previously placid Dr Waheed pumped his fists in the air and addressed his supporters as Mujaheddin. Where did all the rage, the Islamist vocabulary, the sheer bull-headedness, the pelvis-pumping, and the swagger come from?
Waheed’s attempts to deliver his presidential address on 19 March also show his determination to keep his job, and suggest that he quite relishes defeating MDP’s efforts to prove the illegitimacy of his government. Three times he was interrupted mid-sentence during his ‘inaugural address’. Where a less determined man would have crumpled, Waheed battled on and, in a credible impersonation of Arnold Schwarzenneger’s Terminator, told MDP MPs: ‘I’ll be back.’ He was. He delivered the speech.
Since becoming President, he has also shown himself to be remarkably thick-skinned to public humiliation. Led by Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), supporters of Nasheed and reformists have continued to oppose his rule on the streets of Male on a regular basis. When Waheed travels across the country, he has to send ahead armed police and military to line the streets and protect him from protesters.
Waheed has refused to let it get to him. Instead, he seems to have decided on a strategy of ignoring the protesters, claiming – and then sincerely believing – he has 90 percent support among the Maldivian population. He pretends not to hear the calls for early elections, and the public anger against him. When he cannot avoid angry democrats, he waves, smiles, and makes sure at least one smiling child is in the vicinity for a photograph that could be captioned as ‘my supporters love me.’
With time, it has also become clear that although Waheed has set up CoNI to look into the events of 7 February 2012 and Nasheed’s resignation, he remains absolutely convinced that Nasheed was responsible for his own demise. Details of an email exchange between Dr Waheed and Nasheed’s Energy Advisor Mike Mason published by Minivan News this month revealed that in Waheed’s opinion, Nasheed was under the influence of an illegal substance when he decided to resign.
“It would be nice if you listened to something other than Nasheed’s propaganda. He is free to go anywhere he wants and say what ever he wants,” Waheed wrote.
“Have you ever thought that Nasheed could have made a stupid mistake under the influence of what ever he was on and blown everything away? I thought you had more intelligence than to think that I am someone’s puppet and Maldives is another dictatorship,” the President said.
Is Waheed a puppet?
Since the coup, people have come to form a new impression of Waheed: that he is a puppet of political masters above him. In late February, an audio recording was leaked to the local media in which Waheed’s own political advisor was heard describing him as ‘the most incompetent politician in the Maldives.’ From Dr Hassan Saeed’s comments, emerged a Waheed who felt bored and irrelevant within Nasheed’s administration, spending his time playing games on social media networks.
Although it contradicts Waheed’s emerging Hard Man persona, it matches people’s perception of him as a coward and a quitter.
Many incidents have occurred in these 141 days of his presidency to suggest the accusations are not baseless rumours. Waheed’s speech was interrupted live by MP and tourism tycoon Gasim Ibrahim on 24 February. A President who is in command will only be interrupted in public if there is a national emergency (remember this moment?)
or, if someone else is in command.
And then there are the ‘little things.’ Like Waheed paying a courtesy call on Gayoom at Gayoom’s residence after becoming president. Protocol dictates the visit be the other way round. When President Mahmood Abbas of Palestine paid a visit, on invitation from President Nasheed, it was impossible to say who the official host was, Gayoom or Waheed.
Waheed also seems incapable of stopping involvement of the supernatural in law enforcement practices–a hallmark of Gayoom’s thirty-year rule–that have returned to haunt Maldivian politics in the last three months. The general impression of Waheed as the well-travelled ex-UN-official cannot be easily reconciled with a Commander in Chief who lets his armed forces pursue, prosecute, and punish people for ‘practising sorcery.’
Another factor that further indicates Waheed is far from being in control of the government is his relations with the Islamists. Perhaps because he worked in Afghanistan, and saw first hand the dangers of extremist religion in the twenty-first century, countering Islamism in the Maldives seemed to be of some concern to Waheed. In October 2010, for example, he told Indians that ‘rising extremism‘ posed a challenge to the Maldives.
Yet, he gave that 24 February speech about the Mujaheddin, and allowed himself to be criticised for attending a ceremonial service at St Paul’s in London marking the British Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
In May, convicted terrorist Mohamed Ameen who detonated a bomb in Male’s main tourist thoroughfare was released from prison, while this month Islamists attempted to murder the country’s only openly gay rights activist and campaigner for a secular Maldives, Hilath Rasheed. On 7 February itself, extremists vandalised the National Museum and destroyed age-old Buddhist relics.
Waheed has remained silent on such critical incidents while key members of his cabinet have told the international community that threats from Islamism in the Maldives are exaggerated.
Also, thanks to a purple-prose column published on Haveeru [in Dhivehi] recently commemorating the 25th aniversary of Dr Waheed’s PhD degree, the public has come to know that his dissertation was on the subject of political influence over national education curricula. Yet, he has not made a stand against the Islamist Adhaalath Party’s continuing efforts to meddle with the national curriculum. And he most certainly did not stand up against Adaalath, and key political figures, for their criticism of Nasheed as anti-Islamic when Washington Post reported that:
While he [Nasheed] was in power, he says, he changed the school curriculum to make it “more balanced and not so Islamic” and proposed a new penal code less dependent on Islamic sharia law.
It is surprising that a man so proud of his academic credentials that he thinks its 25th anniversary is an occasion deserving of national attention, fails to stand up for the core arguments of his own work. Such weakness of principles does suggest a corresponding weakness in character, making it very plausible that Waheed is, indeed, a puppet being controlled by an unspecified master or masters.
Despite his many weaknesses in the face of the varying demands and beliefs of the so-called Unity Government, should Waheed really be dismissed as a mere puppet?
It is just as, if not more, plausible that his ‘inability’ to take action is precisely the terms of the deal he agreed to with the so-called Opposition Coalition in the early hours of the morning of 31 January 2012.
The rewards for Waheed the President, even if a very short-term president, are rich. Apart from the usual perks of travelling the country and the world in full national honour, influence and global profile, there are also the many benefits for his nearest and dearest.
Almost all members of his family in Male’ and of working age are now in high-ranking government positions or in lucrative positions as board members of various national and international businesses and associations. His son Jeffery Salim Waheed, was promoted from an Intern at the Maldives Permanent Mission to the UN to First Secretary shortly after Waheed assumed office. Salim Waheed was previously a vocal campaigner for democracy but has now become a crusader for his father’s cause.
@yaamyn @velezinee shame. I guess his lies worked. Being held hostage, held at gun point, res letter in MNDF HQ, assassination attempt…
Judging from what other key players in the Opposition Coalition have said, Waheed’s deal with them also includes a promise that he will not run for presidency in 2013. Umar Naseer, the outspoken Vice President of Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has told the media several times that he ‘knows’ Waheed will not run in 2013. So far, Gasim Ibrahim from the Jumhooree Party (JP), Thasmeen Ali from Dhivehi Rayyithun ge Party (DRP) and Nasheed have declared their intention to run in 2013. Waheed has stayed silent.
The silence suggests Umar Naseer, as usual, is speaking from first-hand knowledge of the behind the scenes strategising by the Unity Government. Waheed’s share of the pie for helping topple Nasheed seems to be twenty-one months as President, and full immunity from prosecution at the end of his term with full benefits and privileges accorded to former presidents. A life of luxury abroad–preferably in America and desirably inclusive of frequent socialising with the Obamas, and perhaps working the lecture circuits à la Clinton and Blair, is what Waheed is looking forward to once he completes his part of the deal.
This suggests that Waheed is more pragmatist than puppet. Someone who knew exactly what he wanted–the Presidency of the Republic of Maldives–and got it. It mattered little to him how. Dismissing Waheed as a puppet would be a mistake.
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