President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and First Lady Ilham Hussain have departed on a private visit to Malaysia yesterday (December 28), the President’s Office has announced.
No further details about the trip have been provided at the time of press.
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(0)Parliament today passed the long-awaited political parties bill with a clause requiring a minimum of 10,000 members for registration.
Upon ratification, the bill will provide a three month period for any political party with fewer than 10,000 members to reach the required amount or face being dissolved.
The legislation was passed with 64 votes in favour and four against.
Article 11 of the bill states that at least 10,000 signatures would be needed to register a party at the Elections Commission (EC), which would be mandated to ensure that membership does not fall below the figure.
Parties unable to sign 10,000 members would be dissolved.
An amendment proposed by MP Ibrahim Muttalib to lower the figure to 5,000 was defeated 59-6 at today’s sitting of parliament.
Of the 16 parties currently in existence, only three have more than 10,000 registered members, including the formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) as well as the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).
According to the latest figures from the EC, the MDP currently has 47,192 members, DRP has 25,190 members and PPM has 17,900 members.
Business magnate MP Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhooree Party (JP) has 8,931 members with 5,149 pending membership forms.
The religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) has 5,708 members, down from over 6,000 in February this year.
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s Gaumee Ihthihaad Party (GIP) has 3,427 members while the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) led by Dr Waheed’s Special Advisor Dr Hassan Saeed has 2,125 members.
Meanwhile, the legislation passed today also stipulates that the Male’ City Council (MCC) must provide a 1,000 square feet plot in the capital for parties with membership exceeding 20,000. The plot would be used as an administrative office or meeting hall, for which the party would be required to pay rent.
Political parties were first authorised in the Maldives in May 2005 following an executive decree by then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Prior to the passage of the landmark legislation today, political parties were governed by a regulation.
The regulation required 3,000 members for registration and did not stipulate that parties whose membership falls below the figure would be dissolved.
In March, EC Chair Fuad Thaufeeq told Minivan News that these regulations were “vague” as parties were not required to maintain 3,000 members.
The review of the political parties bill (Dhivehi) was meanwhile completed by the Independent Institutions Committee on December 10. Following a preliminary debate, it was sent to the committee on April 19, 2010.
Writing in his personal blog (Dhivehi) in October, the committee’s chair MP Nasheed revealed that “a clear majority” voted in favour of requiring parties to gain 5000 members before it can be officially registered, and 10,000 members before becoming eligible for state funds.
At the time, Nasheed expressed confidence that the committee’s decision would not be overturned on the Majlis floor when the bill was put up for a vote. He noted that the clauses for membership numbers were backed by the main political parties in parliament.
“When the law is passed, the current registered parties with less than 5,000 members would be given a six month period to reach the figure. If a party fails to reach that figure by the end of the period, the particular party would be dissolved,” Nasheed explained.
The minimum number of membership was later raised to 10,000 and the period shortened to three months before the draft legislation was presented to the Majlis floor for today’s vote.
(0)Dislikes(0)Nexbis has filed a case with the Maldives Civil Court claiming that the People’s Majlis lacks the jurisdiction to order the government to terminate the IT company’s Border Control System (BCS) contract.
The lawyer representing the Malaysia-based mobile security provider, Ismail Wisham, revealed that the case was filed at Civil Court on Tuesday (December 25).
Wisham also stated that a request had been filed with the court to issue an order that the government delay parliament’s decision to cancel the contract until outstanding several ongoing trials in the country concerning the contract were resolved.
Earlier this week, parliament voted unanimously to instruct the government to terminate the border control project agreement with Nexbis.
All 74 MPs in attendance voted in favour of a Finance Committee recommendation following a probe into the potential financial burden placed on the state as a result of the deal.
Speaking to local media on Tuesday (December 25), Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed claimed the government would respect parliament’s unanimous decision to halt the BCS project agreement with Nexbis.
(0)Dislikes(0)Fire crews from the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) have today been working to clear flood water from roads across Male’ following heavy showers.
The MNDF has said that several complaints were received by the department from citizens who had difficulties in walking and driving because of the flood water on some of the capital’s roads.
Fire crews placed had opted to use water pumps near Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital [IGMH], Ghiyasudeen School and the local garbage area, the MNDF said in a statement.
Local media reported that the flood waters had been caused by two hours of non-stop heavy rain this morning.
Flood waters were reported today to have affected Ameenee Magu, parts of Boduthakurufaanu Magu and some several other roads in Male’ City.
Meanwhile, the National Meteorological Department has said that the wet weather is expected to continue for the next two days.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament members have claimed that “pieces of metal” were found in a meal provided by a Male’-based catering service, according to local media.
Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem told Haveeru that the pieces of metal were found on the plates of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MPs Abdulla Mausoom and Mohamed Ramiz during a lunch provided from the Kings Corner restaurant near to the parliament.
According to local media, Raheem said that Parliament’s general committee has decided to return to caterer South Beach, despite its service being stopped over a reported case of food poisoning.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament today passed a MVR 15.3 billion (US$992 million) state budget for 2013, reduced by more than MVR 1 billion (US$64.8 million) from the MVR 16.9 billion (US$1 billion) proposal submitted by Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad last month.
The budget was passed with 41 votes in favour, 28 against and no abstentions. MPs of the formerly ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) voted against the budget.
In addition to changes imposed by the Budget Review Committee, the estimated budget was passed with eight amendments approved at today’s sitting.
Among the amendments voted through included the scrapping of plans to revise import duties on oil, fuel, diesel and staple foodstuffs, as well as any item with import duty presently at zero percent.
An amendment instructing the government to conduct performance audits of the Human Rights Commission and Police Integrity Commission and submit the findings to parliament was passed with 53 votes in favour, ten against and four abstentions.
Amendments proposed by MDP MP Ali Waheed to shift MVR 100 million (US$6.5 million) to be issued as fuel subsidies for fishermen and MVR 50 million (US$3.2 million) as agriculture subsidies from the Finance Ministry’s contingency budget was passed with 68 votes in favour.
A proposal by Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Abdulla Maussom to add MVR 10 million (US$648,508) to the budget to be provided as financial assistance to civil society organisations was passed with 57 votes in favour and three against.
Budget review
Presenting the budget report (Dhivehi) at Tuesday’s sitting, Budget Review Committee Chair MP Gasim Ibrahim said the committee held 31 meetings, spent 45 hours studying the proposed budget and met senior officials from 27 ministries and state institutions.
The omissions approved by the committee to reduce the budget from MVR 16.9 billion to MVR 15.3 billion were largely made from recurrent expenditure, the Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader said.
While Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad had agreed to MVR 1 billion in cuts, the committee decided to trim the budget “by a little bit more than that,” according to Gasim.
The committee approved cuts amounting to a total of MVR 1.6 billion (US$103.7 million).
However, he added, the committee added MVR 389 million (US$25.2 million) for infrastructure projects such as harbours, sewerage and water for islands.
The budget items that the committee made cuts to included overtime pay (50 percent), travel expenses (50 percent), purchases for office use (30 percent), office expenditure (35 percent), purchases for service provision (30 percent), training costs (30 percent), construction, maintenance and repair work (50 percent) and purchase of assets (35 percent).
The committee estimated that the cuts to recurrent expenditure would amount to MVR 1 billion (US$64.8 million) in savings.
The committee also instructed the Finance Ministry to reduce an additional MVR 605.7 million (US$39.2 million) from office budgets.
On the measures proposed by the Finance Committee to raise revenue, the committee approved revising import duties, raising the Tourism Goods and Service Tax (T-GST) from eight percent to 12 percent in July 2013, increasing airport service charge from US$18 to US$25, leasing 14 islands for resort development and imposing GST on telecom services.
The Finance Ministry had however proposed hiking T-GST from 8 to 15 percent in July 2013 and raising airport service charge or departure tax from US$18 to US$30.
The committee also decided to limit loans obtained in 2013 to finance the budget to MVR 2 billion (US$129.7 million) and prohibit the government from taking loans for development projects with an interest rate higher than seven percent.
The government has meanwhile been asked to provide details of the loans and guarantees planned for 2013 for parliamentary approval as required by amendments brought to the Public Finance Act in 2010.
Professional opinion from MMA and Auditor General’s Office
According to the Budget Review Committee report, the Maldives Authority Authority (MMA) advised the committee to reduce total expenditure to MVR 15 billion and attempt to reduce public debt.
The central bank warned that the projected deficit in the 2013 budget was likely to adversely affect the foreign exchange market and foreign currency reserves.
The MMA also advised the committee to pass a budget that would “facilitate” the Maldives joining the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) “Staff Monitoring Programme.”
The programme would provide access to loans from the international debt capital market, the MMA said.
Speaking to press at the conclusion of a visit by an IMF mission last month, head of the delegation Koshy Mathai explained that the requested “Staff Monitoring Programme” would not involve disbursement of funds from the IMF.
“We would basically see how the government is doing against its own targets – it would set targets for itself for performance of these different economic areas – and then if the track record is built up and things are going well, then maybe later we could discuss having a programme where money is disbursed,” Mathai said.
Meanwhile, in its professional opinion on the budget, the Auditor General’s Office expressed concern with the public sector investment programme (PSIP) being formulated without either a national development plan or population consolidation policy.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament’s National Security Committee has decided to summon Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim in order to clarify details of their actions during the controversial transfer of power on February 7.
The committee has decided to summon Nazim and Riyaz on January 15, 2013.
According to local media, both men are to be questioned over in what capacity they had decided to enter the President’s Office and the headquarters of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on February 7.
The events of February 7, which led to a dramatic change in government, have been labelled as a “coup d’etat” by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – despite a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) concluding the transfer was constitutional.
The committee is also expected to query why Riyaz and Nazim had assigned themselves the responsibility to push former President Mohamed Nasheed to write his resignation letter that was then sent to Parliamentary Speaker Abdulla Shahid.
The committee is chaired by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, who was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.
Moosa told local media that the decision of the committee to summon the heads of the country’s police and military was part of wider work to research the CNI’s report on the controversial transfer of power.
Moosa has alleged that Nazim and Riyaz entered the President’s Office and MNDF HQ without having any authority and against correct protocol. Their actions, he claimed, therefore required an investigation.
On February 7, the military and police forces joined then opposition-aligned protesters, defying the orders of former President Nasheed and calling for his resignation.
Nasheed later gave a speech claiming that should he remain as head of state any for longer, it could harm the citizens of the nation. He therefore announced his resignation on the grounds it was the only option he had to avoid bloodshed at the time.
Both Riyaz and Nazim were witnessed at the time following Nasheed to the President’s Office, where he was forced to write a resignation letter to be sent to the Speaker of Parliament.
Earlier this week, former Human Rights Minister Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed alleged certain figures behind protests leading to the controversial transfer of power on February 7 had also planned to assassinate former President Mohamed Nasheed.
The allegations from Saeed, who was recently dismissed as the current government’s Human Rights Minister, were raised in a personal memoir entitled “Silent inquiry: A Personal Memoir on the issue of the Transfer of Powers on the 7th of February 2012”.
Saeed also used the memoirs to accuse president Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s government of attempting to manipulate the outcome of the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report. The government has dismissed the accusations as baseless.
(0)Dislikes(0)State Minister for Finance and steering committee member of the self-titled “National Movement” Abbas Adil Riza has labelled parliament as a “terrorist organization”, claiming the Maldives’ legislature has failed to work in the best interest of country.
Speaking to Minivan News today, Riza claimed that parliament was continuously failing to respect the sentiments of the public and that the “National Movement” sought to hold a referendum on the institution.
“The Maldives constitution clearly states that the power of the state is derived from the people and would remain with the people, so the National Movement representing the people are using our right to express our concerns over the parliament,” he said.
The National Movement announced earlier this week that a planned public referendum on parliament would be used to assess the public view towards the country’s legislature. During a press conference held Tuesday (December 25), senior figures of the movement claimed that they planned to hold the public ballot on January 25, 2013.
Riza clarified today that the vote would be carried out by the members of the National Movement, confirming that it would not be a public referendum taken by the government or any other state institution.
“Our members will conduct the ballot. We are formulating committees that would coordinate the vote in the islands. This referendum has no connection with the government or any other state institution,” he explained.
Riza added that the National Movement, led by the religious conservative Adhaalath Party (AP) and senior government officials, did not wish to dissolve parliament, but instead try to show the world a true reflection of the public’s attitude towards parliament.
“After voting, if the vote shows that people do not have confidence in the parliament someone may take the issue to the Supreme Court. But we are not planning to do that. We only want the world to know the truth,” he said.
According to fellow “National Movement” member Sobah Rasheed, a decision was yet to be taken on how the proposed referendum would be conducted, with further announcements expected at a later date.
The vote would help reveal whether the public had the confidence in their parliamentarians or not, Sobah claimed at the time.
“We are trying to conduct the vote in the most cost efficient, but yet transparent manner that would increase the public confidence on the fairness of the vote,” he told the press.
“National Movement” Vice President and State Minister for Home Affairs Abdulla Mohamed has previously claimed that its campaign to “reform Majlis (Parliament)” was not targeted at the entire 77 sitting MPs. He also dismissed accusations that President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik was behind the movement.
According to Abdulla, the campaign was carried out to urge the authorities to take actions against MPs found not to pay tax, as well as those who have committed several criminal offences.
“The movement is run for the benefit of this country. While this movement is in the best interest of the nation, it may perhaps be detrimental to the president. But if the damage incurred by the president is lesser than the benefit that the country gets, then our purpose is served. Similarly if this movement benefits the whole nation more than the damage to parliament, our purpose is served,” Abdulla said.
Criticism
The “National Movement” has continued of late to criticise parliament, claiming it was not working in the best interest of the people.
Earlier in November, Abbas Adil Riza – then serving as a President’s Office spokesperson – warned that the “National Movement” would “break up” the parliament, should it go forward with no-confidence motion against President Waheed and his Defense Minister Mohamed Nazim. The Supreme Court had at the time issued an injunction against parliament holding such votes.
Riza also directed harsh criticism towards Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid, dismissing his decision to “challenge” the Supreme Court’s ruling as a “cowardly act”.
“Unless Shahid immediately ceases his efforts to violate the constitution while holding the post of Speaker of Parliament, the National Movement will ensure that this comes to a stop,” he said at the time.
Parliament officials had earlier stated that Defence Minister Nazim had been given the required 14-day notice by Speaker Abdulla Shahid.
Responding to Riza’s comments at the time, Majlis Deputy Speaker and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim rejected claims parliament had challenged the Supreme Court’s injunction. Nazim noted that parliament had given all those facing no confidence votes a full 14 days notice as stated by the law.
“We believe there is still time for Supreme Court to lift the temporary injunction, and I believe they will not see this as the parliament challenging the court. After 14 days, the motion will be put up on the agenda for discussion by party leaders. If the injunction remains then there is a possibility for party leaders to challenge the court,” Nazim told Minivan News at the time.
“A rather irrelevant group” – MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor
Responding to Riza’s remarks, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said that he did not believe that the “National Movement” was a force of the people, but rather an irrelevant group craving media attention.
“I don’t think any MP would wish to even comment on the remarks made by these people. We are ashamed of them. These people do not represent the people. Look at the number of people attending their rallies,” he said.
Ghafoor claimed that even though parliament did not generally take into account the remarks made during the rallies held by the movement, they may consider action at a later date on the grounds of national security.
“If they are planning to attack the parliament or threaten the national security, then perhaps the parliament may look into it, but other than that they are not much of a force. I believe if there happens to be a time where they attempt to attack parliament, then the police and military would obviously not let that happen,” he added.
Ghafoor also accused the “National Movement” of not being a registered organization, alleging a possible conflict of interest in the Registrar of Clubs and Societies Abdulla Mohamed speaking as one of its members..
“The whole outfit is void ab initio,” he said
PPM discontinues its support
Meanwhile, the government-aligned former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), a key supporter of the movement, has decided to part ways with the National Movement claiming that it was “moving in another direction”.
“I question today whether this campaign under the name of national movement is sincere or not,” PPM MP Ahmed Mahloof said in parliament.
“I’m saying this because during the GMR issue, we said repeatedly that after that we should raise the issue of Nexbis [border control project]. But after that we saw them raise the issue of the People’s Majlis.”
Mahloof added that a speaker at a national movement rally on Sunday night “used obscene language” to attack PPM Parliamentary Group Leader MP Abdulla Yameen.
The speaker in question accused MP Yameen of “threatening” the Adhaalath Party, during a rally held Sunday (December 23) to celebrate the first anniversary of the December 23 “mega-protest.”
Local media reported that the remarks led to heated exchanges between the speaker and PPM supporters, a number of whom left the area in protest.
In his speech following the incident, Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, a senior leader of the Adhaalath Party, spoke in defence of MP Yameen and urged speakers to respect political leaders.
The National Movement was formed by several government aligned political parties and a coalition of NGOs to oppose the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) development being run by GMR.
The movement initially began as 23 December alliance, which held an enmasse demonstration to oppose certain policies of the President Mohamed Nasheed. The protest was held just months before Nasheed resigned from office, later alleging he had been made to do so under “duress”.
The movement is headed by the religiously conservative Adhaalath Party (AP). AP Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla is portrayed as the figure head of the movement.
(0)Dislikes(0)The mother of a baby discovered abandoned on a pavement in Male’ yesterday (December 26) has been arrested, police have announced.
Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz last night tweeted that the mother of the baby had been “found & arrested”.
The Maldives Police Service has not at present disclosed any more information regarding the case, although local media has reported that a woman believed to be the child’s mother was arrested from the second floor of a house called Release.
The baby was discovered at 5:45am on Wednesday (December 26) just outside of the same house in the Maafannu Ward of Male’, police confirmed yesterday.
Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef was not responding to calls at the time of press.
The woman who allegedly found the baby told local media that the umbilical cord had still been attached to the infant when she found it.
“I was on my way to the toilet at dawn when I heard a cry, so I came out to the balcony to see where the cry came from. The baby was on the doorstep then I immediately informed the police.
“This is a house with separate entrances. I am unaware that there are any pregnant ladies in this house or even in the neighbourhood. Hence, I believe that someone might have abandoned the baby here as the location is discreet,” she was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.
According to a police statement the child was found to be in a healthy condition by doctors at Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
The Police Family and Child Protection Department is now investigating the case.
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