Parliament accepts bill potentially banning pork and alcohol from resorts

Parliament has narrowly voted to accept a bill that would potentially ban pork and alcohol completely from the Maldives, requiring resorts to cease serving haram (prohibited) products to foreign tourists.

The proposed amendment to the Contraband Act was initially submitted by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashad, who after the vote praised MPs’ “willingness to serve Islam”.

When presenting the bill, Nazim argued that the import of these products violated article 10(b) of the constitution which states that “no law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

“We often hear rumours that people have alcohol at home in their fridge, available any time. We’ve heard that kids take alcohol to school to drink during their break. The issue is more serious than we think, it should not be ignored,” Nazim told the media, presenting the bill last week.

The vote was level with 24 MPs voting to accept the bill, and 24 to reject it, while 11 MPs abstained. Speaker Abdulla Shahid cast the deciding vote, in favour of accepting the bill.

The bill will now be sent to Parliament’s National Security Committee, which will assess it and potentially forward the proposal to parliament for a final vote on the matter.

Regulation permitting the sale of pork and alcohol in tourism establishments was passed by the Ministry of Economic Development in 1975. Parliament did not reject the regulation on the sale of pork and alcohol in 2009 following the introduction of the new constitution, thus allowing it to stand by default.

However the 2008 constitution explicitly states that no regulations against a tenet of Islam may be passed in the Maldives, in apparent contradiction of those laws allowing the import and sale of haram commodities.

After being asked in January for a consultative opinion over whether the Maldives could import pork and alcohol without violating the nation’s Shariah-based constitution, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the case on the grounds that the matter did not need to be addressed at the Supreme Court level.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mariya Ahmed Didi this week told Minivan News that the issue of alcohol needed to be “clarified” and “addressed”.

“If this is a religious issue, that is if Islam bans sale of alcohol, it should not be sold in the Maldives as we are a 100 percent Islamic nation. If the sale is allowed, then the question to ask is whether alcohol is needed for the tourist trade to flourish,” she said.

She added that if alcohol proved to be a vital element in the tourism sector, then the sale of alcohol should be allowed for “registered places” to which a permit is given to accommodate tourists including resorts, safari boats and guest houses.

“If the objection to the sale of alcohol is on [religious] grounds, it should not be sold in places where Maldivians reside. But Maldivians do reside on resorts as employees. If we deny Maldivians the employment opportunities in the resorts, then the income from resorts will be restricted to those who own resorts, that would give way to increase in expatriate workers and foreign currency drainage,” she explained.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem – who voted in favour of accepting the bill – was reported by Sun as stating that as alcohol was banned under Islam, it was illegal in the Maldives to create laws and regulations concerning it.

The JP is headed by local resort tycoon, Gasim Ibrahim, who owns the Villa Hotels chain. According to customs records for 2011, those properties – including the Royal, Paradise, Sun, and Holiday Island resorts, in 2011 imported approximately 121,234.51 litres of beer, 2048 litres of whiskey, 3684 litres of vodka and 219.96 kilograms of pork sausages.

Gasim abstained on the vote, as did fellow resort owners Abdulla Jabir and Ahmed Hamza. Resort owner ‘Sun’ Shiyam voted in favour of accepting the bill.

Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali voted against accepting the bill, as did Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed and Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Leader, Abdulla Yameen.

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Hulhumale Court legitimacy case scheduled for Sunday

The first hearing in the legitimacy case of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court is scheduled for Sunday at the Supreme Court.

The case is being examined by a seven-judge bench including the Chief Justice and is scheduled for 2:00pm.

The case was previously filed by lawyer Ismail Visham at the Civil Court, however a request for the case to be tried at Supreme Court was made by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC).

Originally submitted at the lower court about a year ago, the case had been delayed due to the Supreme Court order to halt the case until the Supreme Court decided on the matter.

All documents and files of the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court that were previously filed with the lower court have been forwarded to the Supreme Court.

Procedural points regarding the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Court had also been raised by former president Mohamed Nasheed’s legal team. Claims over the courts legitimacy were however dismissed by Hulhumale Magistrates Court.

The High Court earlier ordered a temporary halt of former president Nasheed’s trial until the court decides on the appeal of the procedural points raised by Nasheed’s legal team.

An order over the High Court to cease its cases regarding the legitimacy issue of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court was later issued by the Supreme Court until a decision over the matter has been reached.

Therefore former president Nasheed’s case can only resume after the Supreme Court and the High Court decide on the matter respectively.

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President Waheed rejects JP’s proposition to reinstate sacked Transport Minister

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan has refused to reinstate the sacked Minister of Transport Dr Ahmed Shamheed and has requested the Jumhoree Party (JP) to propose a candidate for the job.

President of the JP Dr Ibrahim Didi confirmed the decision to local media, stating that the party had received an official letter from the President’s Office informing of the decision to not to accept Shamheed for the post.

Didi added that it was now up to party leader MP Gasim Ibrahim to decide whether to propose a new name, since it was he who had proposed Shamheed to the position in the first place.

The sacked minister, who on local media claimed he had “several differences” with the President, was removed from cabinet last week following the announcement of the extension of his party leader’s Maamigili Airport lease for 99 years.

Maamigili Airport is the country’s first private airport, opened on October last year, and owned by the Villa Group whose chairman is also the leader of government-aligned JP, MP Gasim Ibrahim. The airport had initially been leased to the business tycoon for a period of 30 years.

The re-extension of the lease period of the private airport was met with severe criticism from both the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and some government-aligned political figures.

However, Shamheed – whose decision to extend the lease period cost him his cabinet position – maintained that the decision on the extension of the lease was approved by the government’s Economic Committee a week before.

“Documents to extend the lease of Maamigili Airport for 99 years were sent to the transport ministry by [former President Mohamed] Nasheed’s government. But the current government delayed the matter. The present government only endorsed the decision. It was decided by the NPC (National Planning Council) during the former government,” he said at the time.

The concerned Economic Committee included Minister of Finance Abdulla Jihad and Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture Ahmed Shafeeu, Housing Minister Dr Mohamed Muizzu, Environment Minister Dr Mariyam Shakeela and Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb. However surprisingly, the committee did not include the Minister for Economic Development Ahmed Mohamed from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Spokesperson for the Presidents Office, Abbas Adil Riza, confirmed the dismissal of Minister Shamheed on social media, where he tweeted: “Transport Minster Dr Shamheed has been relieved from his duties today. Defense Minister Nazim will be the care taker until replaced by JP.”

Riza who is also a member of JP, confirmed that the cabinet seat would be reserved for the JP, currently the third largest party in terms of membership in the ruling coalition. As per the coalition agreement, the party is allotted with two cabinet slots including that of the Ministry of Transport and also the Ministry of Gender and Human Rights.

The dismissal of ex-minister Shamheed was met by criticism from the JP, which described it as a “cowardly act”.

In a statement released following the dismissal, the JP said it would take “necessary action” following an inquiry, and expressed “serious concern” with statements in the media by officials from the President’s Office regarding the reasons for Shamheed’s dismissal.

Some local media outlets quoted Presidents Office Media Secretary, Masood Imad, as stating that Shamheed was dismissed following several inconsistencies, which included the extension of lease of the private airport.

However, the Presidents Office Spokesperson Riza at the time declined to reveal the reason behind the dismissal of the minister.

An unnamed JP official alleged to Villa TV (VTV) – a media station owned by the Villa Group  – that Dr Shamheed was sacked because of his opposition to the recently concluded sale of a 30 percent stake in the Addu International Airport Company Ltd (AIA) to another tourism tycoon, ‘Champa’ Hussain Afeef.

The JP leader had alleged corruption in the deal and claimed the valuation of the 30 percent stake was too low.

The JP senior official meanwhile told VTV that Shamheed was removed to allow Champa Afeef to control the airport project, claiming that the “cowardly” act of sacking the minister was intended to divert media and public attention from the Addu airport controversy.

JP’s future in the coalition in question

The recent dismissal of the JP endorsed minister has sparked speculation as to the future of the JP in the current government coalition. JP MP Alhan Fahmy told Minivan News on Wednesday that he believed Shamheed should be reinstated if “Dr Waheed wants to sustain the national unity government.”

“I don’t believe [Waheed] was unaware of the decision [to dismiss Dr Shamheed], and it is of his own irresponsibility if he says so,” Fahmy said “A minister shall not be dismissed under the existing political situation unless it is associated with proper reasoning.”

Speaking at the press conference on Tuesday, Fahmy said Waheed met Gasim on Monday night and what he had to say implied that the President was “not fully aware of how [the dismissal] happened.”

After looking into the dismissal, Fahmy said the JP believed it was done “without a legal basis” as the JP Minister had not breached any laws or official procedures but was sacked “as a result of what the minister did to implement a decision made by the government.”

“Therefore, as we believe that this happened because the President was somewhat confused or misinformed, and after making certain of all the processes that were followed with regard to [the dismissal], the Jumhoree Party has asked the President to reinstate Dr Shamheed to the cabinet before next Sunday,” Fahmy said.

The government’s actions in sacking the minister provided opportunity to level corruption allegations against the JP’s leader who has also been announced to be the party’s presidential candidate, and were “highly damaging” to the party, the MP for Feydhoo added.

“Trust and confidence affected” – JP MP Alhan Fahmy

Speaking to Minivan News following the dismissal, Fahmy said that the letter sent by the Presidents Office did not mention “any reasonable grounds” for the dismissal of the minister.

“The party has yet not decided on how it will proceed following the response given by the President’s Office. The party council will meet very soon to decide on the matter,” he said.

Asked if the President’s decision could mean the party leaving the government coalition, Fahmy stated that the dismissal was “unacceptable” and it had affected the “trust and confidence” between the government and the party.

“I would not definitely say that the party will leave the coalition and join the opposition. But there is a possibility as you would know that political affiliations between parties do not always remain permanent,” Fahmy said.

“The party has not officially penned a coalition agreement. However, after what happened on February 7, the incoming president announced that the new government would be a national unity government. So the coalition was formed on certain moral values and grounds, which this party would never allow to be compromised,” he added.

He also raised doubts over President Waheed’s commitment towards the “moral value and grounds” of a national unity government and instead alleged that the President had now begun working in the interests of “his own party and political future”.

“He won’t acknowledge his own mistakes” – GIP Deputy Leader Zaki hits back at Fahmy’s remarks

Speaking to Minivan News, Deputy Leader of President Waheed’s Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP), Ahmed ‘Nazaki’ Zaki, brushed off Fahmy’s comments describing him as being involved in “party-factionalism”.

“I refuse to believe Fahmy’s remarks that there is a loss of trust and confidence. The JP is a valuable partner in our coalition. I just don’t get it when Fahmy speaks about loss of confidence because JP leader Gasim Ibrahim has explicitly told us that he wants to remain in the government coalition,” he said.

Zaki went onto describe Gasim as “one of the most prominent figures” in bringing democracy to Maldives, and said the government always considered him a “valuable asset” in the national unity government.

However, Zaki admitted that he did not understand why Gasim was trying so hard to reinstate Shamheed when there were “many other capable people” in his party.

Asked for the reason behind Shamheed’s dismissal, Zaki said there were “many reasons” but declined to go into details. He also responded to Fahmy’s claims that the dismissal was not based on “reasonable grounds” by saying it was human nature that “he would not acknowledge his own faults”.

The former High Commissioner to Malaysia went onto state that unlike former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government, President Waheed would not sack a person unless there were severe discrepancies, and Shamheed’s sacking was no different.

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JSC refuses to answer to parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee

The Independent Institutions Committee of Parliament met with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) on Tuesday, where the JSC declined to answer any questions put forward by the committee on the grounds that the legality of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court was a case currently pending at the Supreme Court.

The JSC was summoned in relation to a motion submitted by three members of the committee, which stated that the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court was being operated and judges to the court had been appointed in contradiction to the law.

President of the JSC, Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed stated that the commission could not answer the questions put forward by the committee at the time.

“I would like to highlight Supreme Court’s temporary order No. 2010/SC-VA-J/2, released on 18th October 2010. Looking at the capacity and legal justifications of this order, on the fourth page of this order it says: ‘the judicial system established in the Maldives under the constitution is an independent judiciary system, and that Article 141 (d) of the constitution states it is an obligation of government institutions and all persons leading the government to protect the independence of the courts, and that Article 141(c) of the constitution states in clear language that neither an individual nor a government official should interfere with the work of judges from the independent judiciary or attempt to influence them. Therefore, since the parliament debating on an issue which is in the courts, one on which the courts have not yet made a ruling, can be considered to be an act under (c) of the previously mentioned article, I have told you the exact phrasing of the prior-mentioned order of the honourable court,’” Adam Mohamed said.

“If you take a look at Article 20 of the Judicature Act you will see (a) says, no, (b) says when it comes to a supreme court ruling, then the executive, members of the parliament, judicial power, persons in independent positions, state institutions, persons in positions of the state, and then it goes on to name many categories…So I am thinking that while our constitutional system is detailed in this manner, and specifically in a similar matter, since an institution with the constitutional power to make a legal decision on the kind of matter put before us has previously issued this order that we can see in black and white, what more is there for us to say on this issue?”

However, Chair of the Independent Institutions Committee, independent MP Mohamed Nasheed denounced the justifications presented by the JSC.

“What you referred to was precisely an order released asking parliament to cease discussions on a specific case submitted following a disagreement between the government and the parliament on a certain issue which comes under the parliament regulations, believing that debate on the issue is something that must not be done,” Nasheed said, adding that opinions expressed in the order were not something that had to be followed.

Nasheed stated that the matter could be looked into by the committee until and unless the Supreme Court issued a halting order for the specific matter in question.

Regarding the JSC’s stand that a matter pending in court could not be discussed in the committee, Nasheed responded saying that the parliament regulations said otherwise.

“There is a ruling regarding this released by the Speaker of the Parliament following a point of order raised by a member during a parliament session. This ruling says that although the previous regulations of the parliament did not permit us to discuss ongoing cases, the current regulations do not have any such clause. I believe that ruling is in effect over the parliament, and over this committee.”

The chair of the committee and the president of JSC debated the matter for the duration of the meeting which lasted for almost an hour, and concluded with the JSC firmly refusing to respond to any questions about the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court as the matter was “currently under the jurisdiction of the highest court in the Maldives.”

Although the chair of the committee stated that the debate would be carried forward between himself and the commission’s president and that other commission members would be given the opportunity to speak should any of the questions be directed specifically to them, the parliament appointee to JSC Jumhoree Party (JP) MP Gasim Ibrahim interrupted with procedural points.

“You are acting against both the parliament regulations and the committee regulations,” Gasim alleged, stating that the JSC could not be summoned without giving notice of 14 days as it included cabinet members.

The continued interruption led to chaos in the meeting, where attendees from both sides hurled verbal attacks at each other, and the chair decided to go into a 10 minute recess.

Following the recess, Nasheed responded that the 14 day notice and provision of the exact questions to be asked were applicable only in cases where a cabinet minister was summoned to a committee on the request of an individual MP to be held answerable to a specific question. He stated that it did not apply in the case of the meeting in process as the committee held the oversight mandate over the JSC and could summon them when they saw it necessary. He also added that the JSC had attended the committee meetings previous under the very same circumstances.

“In yesterday’s committee meeting, we had a unanimous vote to summon your commission here. It wasn’t part of the initial issue. As you know, we have also written to your committee requesting necessary documents,” Nasheed continued, asking “What was your intention in coming here in relation to this issue if you are now going to refuse to answer our questions?”

Adam Mohamed replied that the JSC had received a letter requesting attendance a day ahead, but that the letter had held nothing by way of explaining the purposes of the summons.

Nasheed, however, claimed that the secretary general of the commission had later on clarified the matter from the parliament’s administration and that therefore the committee refused to accept the excuse.

Gasim, who continued to speak loudly throughout the latter half of the meeting claimed that the parliament committee was attempting to project its own failings onto the commission, adding that “you can’t do as you please in here, this is not your home” and “don’t try to act smart”.

When Nasheed requested the JSC president to “control” the commission’s members, Gasim again responded “How is it even possible for him to do that?”, prompting laughter and applause.

No questions concerning the issue on agenda were posed during the approximately hour long meeting.

The meeting was finally ruled closed after the JSC repeatedly insisted that they found it “rather difficult” to answer questions regarding the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court while the case was currently filed in the Supreme Court.

Members of the JSC are Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed, Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid, High Court Judge Abdulla Hameed, Lower Court Judge Abdulla Didi, Parliament member Gasim Ibrahim, Public member Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman, President’s Appointee Mohamed Saleem, Civil Service Commission’s President Mohamed Fahmy, Attorney General Azima Shakoor and lawyer Ahmed Rasheed.

A meeting of the Independent Commissions Committee had been disrupted last week, following disagreements regarding the summoning of JSC.

Meanwhile, earlier in the week Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain has criticised the JSC, calling it inept and stating that many of the challenges faced by the judiciary would have been resolved if the JSC had undertaken its responsibilities “properly”.

Former President’s Appointee to the JSC, Aishath Velezinee has consistently raised questions about the work of the JSC, alleging that much of its actions were against the constitution, as well as criticised the oversight committee for failing to holding the JSC accountable.

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MDP asks parliament to review progress of MP Afrasheem murder investigation

The Maldivian Democratic Party(MDP) has requested that Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid review the investigation into the October murder of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Afrasheem Ali to ensure that it was progressing in a “just” manner.

The party suggested that this be done through the concerning parliamentary committees by contacting relevant government authorities.

The MDP expressed concern that it is still not known whether the police had managed to identify a suspected murderer even one and a half months after the brutal murder of the MP.

The party also stated that it believed it was of utmost importance that the public, and especially those from the constituency of Ungoofaaru which was represented by Afrasheem, gained confidence that the investigation would be carried justly.

The statement further pointed out that citizens were speculating about the murder of Afrasheem on social media and in general gatherings, highlighting that it was often mentioned in social forums that Dr Afrasheem’s views on religious matters had not aligned with those of certain other religious scholars.

In his last TV appearance hours before his murder, Afrasheem had said that he was deeply saddened and asked for forgiveness from citizens if he had created a misconception due to his inability to express himself in the right manner.

Less than a week latar, Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed told media that the ministry had not forced Afrasheem to offer a public apology for his views.

Speaking at a gathering on Republic Day, MDP presidential candidate, former President Nasheed appealed to the Commissioner of Police to “stop hiding Afrasheem’s murderer,” adding “You know who Afrasheem’s murderer is. Please send the related details to the judicial institutions and courts of the Maldives. Ensure Afrasheem’s murderer is brought to justice immediately.”

The police then announced a press conference regarding the case on the following day, which was later “postponed indefinitely.”

Among those arrested in regard to the murder were MDP activists Mariyam Naifa and Ali Hashim ‘Smith’. Although Naifa was released, albeit under a gagging order 15 days after her initial detention, ‘Smith’ and another arrestee Hassan Humam are still under detention for a period of 45 days, as approved by the criminal court.

Police revealed in October that they are seeking assistance from the FBI and the Singaporean police force to analyse the evidence they have gathered.

Police Media Official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef was not responding to calls at time of press.

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National airline expands services to India

Maldivian airlines have announced plans to expand regional services to a further three destinations in India this month.

The Island Aviation Services (IAS)-owned company is to introduce flights to Mumbai and Chennai as of tomorrow (November 15), operating services to both cities will three times per week.

Maldivian will simultaneously launch services to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh via Chennai, and new services to the capital New Delhi from Male’ to commence in April 2013.

The airline currently connects Trivandrum from Male’ daily.

The move comes after IAS inducted an A320 aircraft into its fleet configured with 12 business class and 138 economy class seats.

GMR Male’ International Airport Pvt. Ltd CEO Andrew Harrison noted that the growing number of tourists from India as well as Maldivians travelling to India would benefit from these new services.

“We look forward to further expansion of Maldivian’s routes to India and beyond for the benefit of passengers and cargo shipments,” he added.

Flights to and from Male’ and Mumbai will operate on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, whilst flights to and from Male’ and Chennai will operate Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Comment: The strange case of Dr Hassan and Mr Saeed

Dr Hassan Saeed is an educated, articulate man. The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) leader, former Attorney General and one time Presidential hopeful has penned a series of articles in a local daily, in which he outlines his vision for a democratic future for the Maldives – although one could argue that much of it is various justifications for getting rid of President Nasheed ahead of 2013.

He was launched into the national limelight by former President Gayoom – along with Dr Ahmed Shaheed and Dr Mohamed Jameel – as the reformist, camera-friendly face of his dictatorial regime.

Perhaps to Gayoom’s detriment, the media savvy Dr Hassan Saeed was perceived as collaborating with various agencies to actually implement those reforms – efficiently working within the system to lay some of the groundwork for the historic 2008 elections that he would contest himself.

As Attorney General in 2005, he was the first to file complaints against Abdulla Mohamed – the Criminal Court ‘Judge’ who was detained by Nasheed’s government earlier this year leading to the national crisis that ultimately led to its downfall.

Hassan Saeed, who would later campaign vigorously for the Judge’s release, had highlighted serious cases of Abdullah Mohamed’s misconduct, including misogyny, obstruction of justice, and perhaps committing child abuse in court by making children enact their own molestation in front of the actual perpetrators and the rest of the court.

While one cannot legally defend the unlawful detention of any citizen, Dr Hassan Saeed’s efforts certainly gives one some moral ammunition to combat the country’s broken judiciary and the vile characters at its helm.

There is much to admire about Dr Hassan Saeed.

On 14 November 2012, Minivan News published a leaked letter written by this gentleman to the Indian Prime Minister.

In the letter, Dr Hassan urged the Prime Minister to make Indian infrastructure giant GMR terminate its contract to develop Male’s international airport, on the basis of a range of serious allegations – from the Indian High Commissioner not knowing his job, to massive bribery allegedly being carried out by GMR.

Failing this, Saeed warned, the Maldives would become a ‘fertile ground for extremist and nationalist politicians’.

Dr Hassan Saeed’s warnings are absolutely correct, as any observer of Maldivian politics over the last few months would agree. The extremist, nationalist rhetoric has reached a feverish pitch, and never before in modern times has any Maldivian political party taken to abuse regional neighbours as a political platform.

Having said that, the same observers would also notice that it is Dr Hassan Saeed and his allies who best embody this nationalist, extremist threat.

Will the real Hassan Saeed please stand up?

It is a bewildering metamorphosis that Dr Hassan Saeed undergoes between his clashing personalities, playing Jekyll and Hyde with staggering ease.

“Nationalism and extremism in India’s backyard is not good for India or our small country,” said the reasonable Dr Hassan in his letter.

But the same Dr Hassan Saeed was present on the podium on 23 December 2011, where he joined other parties in rallying thousands behind extremist, nationalist demands – including the closing down of ‘massage parlours’ and preventing the landing of Israeli airlines, thus saving us all from the impending Zionist invasion that exists primarily in Sheikh Imran’s imagination.

On one hand, he has co-authored a book titled ‘Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam’, where he academically and emphatically argues for freedom of religion within the framework of Islam, while making the case against capital punishment for apostasy.

On the other hand, he has published a series of pamphlets, including one titled ‘President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians’, pouring vitriol on President Nasheed for ‘fostering ties with Jews’ and failing to support medieval practices like flogging in the Maldives.

Dr Hassan Saeed extends copious platitudes to Dr Manmohan Singh in his letter, even thanking India for defending the country in 1988 against armed terrorists.

But how does he reconcile this with the fact that he – through his minority Dhivehi Qaumee Party pamphlets – is the primary source that has poisoned the airport debate with harsh anti-Indian rhetoric?

On one hand, he warns against India bashing and how unhelpful it can get. On the other hand his only representative in Parliament vocally defends the willful public slander against the Indian High Commissioner by Abbas Adil Riza, the spokesperson for the Waheed Regime.

So then, one wonders, who is the real Dr Hassan Saeed?

Is he the democrat who pens numerous articles extolling the virtues of democracy? Or is it the man who candidly acknowledged that the controversial February 7 transfer of power that he was involved in was a ‘unique coup’?

One Hassan Saeed brought up ‘legitimacy issues’ of the Waheed regime in private, calling the former Vice President “politically weakest person in the country“. Another Hassan Saeed publicly lauded the Waheed regime, giving it a generally favourable report card.

Is Dr Hassan Saeed the enlightened academic that makes convincing arguments of a pluralist, modern, tolerant Islam? Or was that just a mask for the Jew-bashing, anti-semitic Hassan Saeed behind the feverish Islamist rhetoric that constantly destabilised the country over much of the last year?

Is he the reasonable statesman who understands the wisdom of maintaining close ties with a friendly neighbour like India? Or is the real Hassan Saeed the guy who publishes India-bashing literature? Is he the mild-mannered man who is married to a foreign lady, or the rabid xenophobe spewing nationalist rhetoric?

Could the Hassan Saeed that calls President Nasheed’s record in office “indefensible” also be the same guy whose party defends the bombastic imbecile in the President’s office who might very well lead us to war with India before lunch?

These are important questions to ask, because one of these Hassan Saeeds is an asset to the nation – an educated, intellectually sound, democratic, modern Muslim who can contribute immensely to salvaging what precious little is left of our democracy.

A democracy, one sadly notes, that was shredded with the connivance and active support of the other, irresponsible and much more unwelcome Hassan Saeed.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Funds for essential state projects “trapped” in parliament

Essential state projects are suffering from a lack of funds due to an excessive annual budget assigned for parliament, a 2011 audit report has revealed.

The audit report of the parliament states that MVR 35.4 million and MVR 20.7 million from the parliament budget was unused at the end of 2010 and 2009 respectively.

In 2010, MVR 89.2 million out of MVR 124.5 million was spent from the budget assigned for parliament.

The report states that: “Lack of proper studies in this regard results in money necessary for other state projects being trapped in the parliament.”

In 2009, only MVR 68.5 million out of MVR 241.6 million was spent from the budget assigned for parliament.

MVR 70.1 million and MVR 54.3 million went on the salaries of parliament employees in 2010 and 2009 respectively, and parliament travel expenses took up MVR 3.3 million and MVR 2.1 million in 2010 and 2009 respectively.

The parliament spent MVR 302,169 on phone bills, MVR 1.5 million on electricity, and MVR 3.8 million on insurance.

The audit report recommended the parliament to conduct proper studies, and determine planned activities when preparing the budget.

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Five suffer from food poisoning in parliament

One MP and four parliament employees have been taken to hospital after suffering from food poisoning.

Member of Parliament for Hithadhoo-Medhu constituency Mohamed Rasheed had to be removed from the chamber on Wednesday (November 14) after feeling faint.

A female Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) security officer at the parliament was also taken to hospital.

Speaker of Parliament Abdullah Shahid said that the issue will be thoroughly investigated in cooperation with Maldives Food and Drug Authority, police and MNDF.

“The parliament takes issues related to MP’s security and safety very seriously,” he told Sun Online.

Following the food poisoning incident the parliament general committee held an emergency meeting upon the Speaker’s request.

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