Category:

Looming tug-of-war between parliament and executive over state broadcaster

The executive today signaled reluctance to hand control of state media over to parliament, potentially sparking a political tug-of-war over Television Maldives (TVM) and Voice of Maldives (VOM).

The state media outlets are currently operated by the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), a 100 percent government owned company established by executive decree.

However in April Parliament approved a law to establish a company called the Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) to operate the state media, with nine board members appointed and answerable to the parliament.

Today the parliament appointed nine members for the MBC board. Chairman of MNBC Mohamed “Madulu” Waheed and Managing Director Ibrahim Khaleel also proposed their names, but were dropped from the shortlist by parliament.

Out of the 29 names presented, MPs approved 18 names to be shortlisted and nine of the persons were appointed as the MBC board members.

“MNBC is a company established under a resolution by the president and all its assets and land also belong to the company under a contract,” said the President’s Political Advisor Hassan Afeef today at a press conference.

”Although the MBC has been established, the MNBC will continue operating the state broadcasters. I would like to note that TVM and VOM are both channels registered under MNBC and are assets of that company.”

President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the bill establishing the MBC in April, which was originally passed by Parliament on 6 April 2010.

The government said then that it wanted the corporation to be free from political and commercial influence, and to televise public service announcements and matters of the state (such as President Nasheed’s speeches) at no cost to the government.

However today Afeef said that if the MNBC did not wish to hand the assets to MBC, there was no way they could be transferred if the MNBC did not wish to.

“If the MBC was established for the government to operate, the government would have the power to appoint people for its board,” Afeef said. “The government did not establish MBC, it was the parliament.”

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair in April that the formation of a new public broadcaster “will be best for the general public”, and that MNBC’s assets would be transferred to the new corporation.

DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom suggested at the time that President Mohamed Nasheed should “be very happy” with the way the bill was passed.

”Now the president can say he has no power over the media,” Mausoom said.

However government’s backtracking today suggest it may not be prepared to hand control of the state broadcasters to parliament so readily.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Criminal Court suspends two senior police from appearing “on ethical grounds”

The Criminal Court has suspended two officers who spoke in court on behalf of the police during hearings concerning two opposition leaders.

Jumhoree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim and People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen, both also high-profile businessmen, were detained last week on charges of treason and bribery.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam identified the two officers as Inspector Mohamed Riyaz of Special Investigations and Superintendent Mohamed Jinah, Head of Drug Enforcement. Both officers have been suspended from appearing in court on behalf of police until December 2010.

When Minivan News contacted Jinah seeking to clarify the matter, he requested Minivan News contact Shiyam for information.

Shiyam claimed that police have been unable to determine the specific reason for the suspension of the two officers.

”The Criminal Court sent a letter signed by the Chief Judge of the court to Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh,” said Shiyam. ”The letter did not mention any specific reason [for the suspensions], only ‘ethical grounds’.”

Spokesperson of the Criminal Court Ahmed Riffath said that as police was not revealing details of the matter, the Criminal Court also did not wish to do so.

”There is a code of conduct that people representing in court should follow,” said Riffath. ”They were suspended due to a case relating to this code of ethics. It is for more than one reason.”

”This is the only information we can provide and I believe that it would be enough for co-operating with the media,” he added.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Opposition joint coalition will deliver “shocking message” to government

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced it will hold a “special protest” this evening together with coalition partners, to deliver “a shocking message” to the government.

Ali Solih, DRP Media Coordinator, said that the protest would be held at the Artificial Beach tonight and that the leaders of the four opposition parties will be present at the protest.

”Leader of People’s Alliance (PA) , leader of Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP), leader of Jumhooree Party (JP) and leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) will address the people at tonight’s protest,” said Solih, ”and they will deliver a shocking message to the government.”

JP leader Gasim Ibrahim and PA leader Abdulla Yameen, both high-profile businessmen, were recently accused by the government of vote buying and treason. However Supreme Court has since ruled that their arrest was unconstitutional, after a panel of five judges decided that there was not enough evidence to keep them under house arrest.

Solih claimed the protest would show the government “the unity of the opposition coalition.”

”Due to the weather, not many islanders will be able to participate in this protest,” he said, ”but it will be a mass protest.”

Solih said that the party had requested the municipality council provide a ground for it to hold meetings, but that the council had not given an appropriate answer.

Deputy Leader of the DRP, Umar Naseer, said tonight’s gathering would not be a protest “but a rally where the leaders of four parties will address to the people.”

”It will start at 8:45pm,” he said. ”This rally is to let the government know that they have failed and that they should resign now.”

He said that the rally was “not scheduled to turn into a protest.”

On May 13, DRP held a protest against hiked electricity tariffs, titled ‘Red Notice’. The protest was dispersed by riot police outside the State Electricity Company (STELCO) building, and several DRP MPs, protesters and police were injured in the scuffle.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Leading cephalopod researcher doubts Octopus Paul has psychic powers

“I don’t believe in it personally,” said Dr Mark Norman, Museum Victoria’s head of science, when asked to comment on Octopus Paul’s psychic powers.

“But having said that I don’t want to underestimate how amazing these animals are and how clever they are… they’re doing pretty well for a super snail relative.” he said.

“They can recognise individual people in a crowd, they can do really clever things like learn to unscrew the lids off jars to get prawns out of the inside, they can collect up half coconut shells and carry them around like portable armour and jump inside if something comes along.”

Octopuses can also mimic other sea creatures, according to Dr Norman. “And because they’ve got no hard shell, an animal that’s a metre across could squeeze through a hole the size of about a 20 cent piece, they can squeeze their eyes out of shape and pull their soft brains through the middle of these holes.”

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Octopus correct: Spain wins World Cup moments short of extra time

Spain has won the World Cup for the first time in it’s history, scoring only a single goal in the final against the Netherlands, four minutes from the end of extra-time.

Moments before the World Cup was to be decided by a penalty shootout, Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta slipped the ball past Dutch  goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

“It’s incredible,” Iniesta told AFP. “What a joy especially when you see how we won it.

“There aren’t the words to describe what I am feeling. After my goal, I thought about my family and all the people who I love. But the victory is the fruit of a lot of work.”

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk added: “The best team won. I am disappointed. It is a world championship and we have just lost a final.”

Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player of the 2010 World Cup.

Rising star Thomas Mueller finished the tournament as the top-scorer after golden boot rivals David Villa and Wesley Sneijder both failed to score in Sunday’s final. FIFA also named him as the best young player of the tournament.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Australia’s longest bridge opened

Australia’s longest bridge, 2.7 kilometres long and linking Brisbane to Redcliffe, was opened on Sunday. The bridge cost $315 million and was completed on time and on budget, according to Main Roads minister Craig Wallace.

Built using 120,000 tonnes of concrete and 10,000 tonnes of steel, it has three lanes for vehicles, a pedestrian path, a bikeway and fishing platforms.

The duplicated bridge is constructed to last 100 years and withstand a one-in-2,000 year storm, says Queensland state premier Anna Bligh.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Criminal Court suspends police lawyers in Majlis corruption cases

The Criminal Court has suspended the two police lawyers who prosecuted the cases of Majlis members Gasim Ibrahim, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and Ahmed Nazim.

Inspectors of Police Mohamed Riyaz and Mohamed Jina were suspended for contempt of court.

The Criminal Court informed police of the decision in a letter sent to Police Commissioner on Sunday, according to a police media official, but the official refused to comment further.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Supreme Court orders release of MPs

The Supreme Court of Maldives has overturned a High Court ruling to keep MPs Gasim Ibrahim and Abdulla Yameen under house arrest for 15 days, ordering the immediate release of the high-profile businessmen and minor opposition party leaders.

Yameen and Gasim were detained pending an investigation into alleged corruption, bribery and treason.

A legal team led by former Attorneys General Azima Shukoor and Dr Hassan Saeed, representing the MPs, appealed the High Court decision last week on the grounds that the arrest was unlawful as Gasim was taken to the police station “to clarify something.”

Today’s ruling invalidates both the Criminal Court order to keep the MPs under house arrest for three days and the High Court ruling to extend the period to 15 days.

Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed said there was no room to uphold the lower court rulings granting the police authority to arrest the MPs.

The panel of five judges on the interim court concurred that the evidence presented was not sufficient to keep Gasim and Yameen under house arrest or in custody.

Speaking to press after the verdict, former Justice Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and Dr Hassan Saeed said the ruling was “a victory for separation of powers in the Maldives.”

“Both of them were arrested in violation of the constitution and today this has been proven,” the Dhivehi Qaumee Party leader said.

Mulaku MP Yamin told reporters that the highest court of appeal in the country has ruled that police disregarded the law and the constitution in arresting the MPs.

“This is a victory for the Maldivian people, a complete victory,” said Gasim.

Crowds of PA and JP supporters gathered outside the former presidential palace Theemuge that houses the Supreme Court and High Court, to celebrate the ruling.

The leaders of the opposition People’s Alliance and Jumhoori Party (Republican Party) was arrested on 29 June in the wake of the en masse resignation of the cabinet, who claimed that opposition MPs were obstructing the government with the passage of laws intended to wrest executive power from the president.

The first hearing

At last week’s Supreme Court hearing, police requested that the court abolish provisions in the parliamentary rules of procedure that restrict the detention of MPs.

Ibrahim Riffath, Deputy Solicitor General advocating on behalf of the police in his personal capacity, argued the provisions were unconstitutional as article 88(a) of the constitution only grants authority to the People’s Majlis to formulate regulations for its administration and that MPs’ privilege could not be extended through such regulations.

According to local newspaper Haveeru, another point of contention at the hearing was interpreting article 45 of the constitution, which states everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained, arrested or imprisoned except as provided by law enacted by the People’s Majlis in accordance with article 16.

Article 16 restricts Majlis to enacting laws that could limit rights and freedoms to any extent only if demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

Grilled by the judge, Mohamed Jinah from police said the law referred to in article 45 was the Police Act, which grants police extensive powers for criminal investigation.

However, former AG Hassan Saeed said it refers to the Criminal Justice Procedures Act, which was being drafted at the same time as the constitution.

Hassan Saeed said the Police Act does not specify how arrests and detentions should be made.

Asked whether such a law existed, he answered no.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Seventy-eight year-old man arrested for abusing 12 year old disabled girl

A 78 year-old man has been arrested for allegedly abusing a 12 year-old disabled girl last Friday on the island of Inguraidhoo in Raa Atoll.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that an elderly man was arrested in connection with a child abuse case in Inguraidhoo.

”We can’t provide further information regarding the case,” he said.

An islander familiar with the matter alleged that the girl’s mother sold her to the old man, “because the girl is a disabled girl and she cannot even attend to school,” he said.

”The islanders say that her mother gave her to the old man for some amount of money. Both of them were taken to Inguraidhoo police station, and police have now released her mother.”

He said the old man was not a man from the island but said he used to visit Inguraidhoo.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)