Police have arrested two individuals from the island of Hoarafushi for engaging in the widespread sale of illicit drugs.
According to the police, the two persons arrested on Wednesday night are local men both aged 19.
While the Hoarafushi Magistrate Court has extended their detention by ten days, police have stated that they are unable to provide further details as the investigation is ongoing.
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(0)The Labour Relations Authority has announced that it has discovered a number of employers who have failed to pay the Ramadan allowance in accordance with the law.
According to the authority, the matter is mostly found in companies doing construction work, hotel managers, and retail businesses.
The authority further confirmed that it is in the process of taking due action against businesses that fail to comply with the law.
According to the law, every Muslim employee must be paid one third of their salary as Ramadan allowance. If the amount is below MVR2000, employers must pay a minimum of MVR 2000. The amount cannot, however, exceed MVR10,000.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Elections Commission (EC) has announced it will be sending for prosecution the names of 76 candidates who took part in the recently concluded parliamentary elections after they failed to submit their financial statements.
The EC confirmed that the 76 candidates who are to be sent for prosecution do not include any of the newly elected parliamentarians.
According to the General Elections Act, candidates are required to submit financial records of election expenditure to the EC within 30 days of the election.
Of the 302 candidates who contested in the parliamentary elections, 226 candidates submitted the financial records to the EC as required.
(0)Dislikes(0)Parliament’s economic committee has elected Nilandhoo constituency MP Abdulla Khaleel as its chair and Meedhoo constituency MP Ahmed ‘Sun’ Siyam as its deputy chair at a committee meeting held on Wednesday (July 2).
Maamigili constituency MP – leader of Jumhooree Party – Gasim Ibrahim and Hithadhoo Uthuru constituency MP Mohamed Aslam were also nominated for the post of chair but lost by 1 vote and 3 votes, respectively.
In addition to these four members, the committee also included Galolhu Uthuru constituency MP Eva Abdulla, Thinadhoo Uthuru constituency MP Saudhulla Hilmy, Guraidhoo constituency MP Hussain Manik Dhon Manik, Central Fuvahmulah constituency MP Ali Fazaadh, Kin’bidhoo constituency MP Abdulla Riyaz, Maduhvari constituency MP Mohamed Ameeth, and Laamu Gan constituency Fayyaz Ismail.
(0)Dislikes(0)Minister of Islamic Affairs Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has urged Maldivians to refrain from participating in foreign wars.
The appeal comes after reports of at least two Maldivian men being killed in the Syrian civil war during May.
According to an online media group called Bilad Al Sham Media, a 44-year-old Maldivian man died in a suicide attack on May 25 and another was killed two days later in a gun fight against soldiers loyal to Bashar Al Assad.
“[Islam] does not permit shedding another [Muslim] brother’s blood,” Shaheem said noting a high rate of civilian casualties in wars being fought in Muslim countries elsewhere.
Often, wars are being waged between different Muslim factions leading to the death of Muslim women, children, and elderly people and the destruction of mosques and homes, the Islamic Minister said at a press conference today.
“Islamic Jihad is that waged with sincerity, in the name of Allah, in defense of religion and nation, behind a designated Muslim leader, and against enemies of Islam and nation,” he said.
“Hence, rather than destroying oneself in conflicts of an unknown nature, the Islamic Ministry believes it is better to serve one’s own parents, families, and country,” he continued.
“[We] beseech all Maldivian youth and citizens, who love Islam, to refrain from participating in conflicts between one Muslim group and another. It is better to allow the citizens of the country in war to solve their own problems.”
Foreign interference obstructs citizens of a country from achieving their goals and allows governments to claim they are not fighting their own citizens, but foreigners, said Shaheem.
He further said that neither Islamic scholars nor citizens of war torn countries have asked for foreign interference. Instead, they ask foreigners to leave and allow them to solve their internal affairs.
“We must [only] pray for the beloved citizens of those countries under war,” he said before calling on the international community to do more to end bloodshed and conflict in Muslim countries.
‘Good intentions, but the wrong path’
In issuing today’s fatwa, the Islamic Ministry had consulted both local scholars and scholars from Egypt, Tunisia, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, Shaheem told the press afterwards.
“All [local scholars] of them in general agree people must not go there, to ongoing wars. It is not about deciding if it is a Jihad or not, even if it is Jihad, not to go to foreign countries. When foreigners intervene, it creates even more conflict. Instead of achieving goals, it contributes to greater internal conflict and greater disagreements”
Shaheem said Maldivian militants who go abroad must not be punished, but be rehabilitated and informed of religious teachings.
No Muslim scholar in the Maldives has called on Maldivians to participate in foreign wars, “but there are youth, who get emotional from what they see, of the suffering of Muslims, there are Maldivian youths who want to avenge that,” he said.
Their intention may be good, but the path they have chosen is not the right path, he said.
“I do not believe it is the right way. If it is an Islamic jihad, it is for a very holy purpose, the leader of the struggle has to be clear, their manifesto of what is to happen after the war has to be clear, whether it will give victory for Islam. Only if all of this clear, can one go into war,” he said.
Admitting to growing radicalisation in the Maldives, Shaheem said the media and scholars must help the government in its effort to educate the public.
Radicalisation begins with praying in separate communities, refusing to register marriages at court, and declaring other Muslims infidels, Shaheem said.
In February, the government shut down the Dharumavantha Rasgefaanu mosque to stop unauthorised Friday prayers by a group described as “extremists”
According to local media, the congregation prayed to Allah to weaken and current government and its leaders and prayed for ill-health and calamity to befall senior government officials, the Islamic Ministry and city council.
In May, the US State Department in the 2013 country report on terrorism said the Maldivian government believes that funds are being raised in the country to support terrorism abroad. However, the Maldives Monetary Authority denied the claim in a subsequent press release.
(0)Dislikes(0)Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashad signed for the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) last night, becoming the third opposition MP to cross the floor since the parliamentary polls in March.
The addition of the MP for Baa Atoll Thulhaadhoo brings the PPM’s number of MPs in the 18th People’s Majlis to 42 – one short of a simple majority in the 85-member house. However, along with the five MPs of coalition partner Maldives Development Alliance (MDA), the ruling coalition now has 47 MPs.
The opposition MDP’s numbers are reduced to 23 while the Jumhooree Party (JP) has 13 MPs. The religious conservative Adhaalath Party has one MP while Madaveli MP Muaz Mohamed Rasheed remains the sole independent.
Following a signing ceremony at Muleeage last night where Rashad handed over his membership form to President Abdulla Yameen, MP Ahmed Nihan – parliamentary group leader of the PPM – took to social media to announce that the ruling party now has 50 percent of parliamentary seats.
Thulhaadhoo MP Nazim Rashaad PPM ah soe kurehvvumaa eku.majileehuge 50% PPM ah libunee. pic.twitter.com/AmdBM9ElQS
— Ahmed Nihan (@ahmed_nihan) July 1, 2014
Although the PPM won 33 seats in the March 22 parliamentary elections, four out of five independent MPs along with MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa and two JP MPs switched to the ruling party while MDP MP Ali Mohamed signed for the PPM last month.
MP Nazim Rashad, a former Islam teacher, was elected to the 17th People’s Majlis as an independent and joined the MDP in 2010.
Several MPs who have crossed the floor have said that they joined the ruling party to ensure development of islands in their constituencies.
Speaking to Minivan News today, MDP Spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy, however, dismissed the justification as “utter nonsense.”
“They are just baseless and unprincipled. Why did they in the first place get elected with MDP tickets and then defect?” he asked.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Abdulla Yameen has asked parliament to review a previous decision to deny a request to revise a 1,500 housing unit project financed by a Chinese EXIM bank loan.
In December 2012, the previous parliament had denied President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s request to shift 704 housing units originally designated for the southern atolls to Hulhumalé.
An MVR2.5 billion (US$162 million) loan was secured during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed in 2011 to construct 1,500 housing units in Gaaf Alif, Gaaf Dhaal, Fuvahmulah and Addu City.
In his letter requesting the change – which was read out at today’s sitting – President Yameen stated that the government had conducted a “need assessment” and determined that there was “no need at present” to build more than 796 housing units in the southern atolls.
Since election in November, Yameen has pushed for the development of a ‘youth city’ in Hulhumalé with a population of 50,000 people.
The president’s request was forwarded to the public accounts committee for review by Speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed at today’s sitting of parliament.
(0)Dislikes(0)Political appointees from the defunct Transport Ministry have been moved to other departments.
Civil Service Commission Secretary General Mohamed Faizal has confirmed that none of the civil servants who worked there would lose their jobs.
“We are currently in the process of transferring them to the ministries to which the departments they served under have been delegated. They will be getting their salaries without interruption even while we are working on the transfers,” Faizal explained.
Faizal stated that the staff do not have a say regarding which ministry they are transferred to, and that the commission will instead be transferring them to whichever ministry is currently delegated with running their previous department.
According to him, no changes will be brought to their posts or salaries as a result of the change.
Former Ministers of State for Transport and Communication Abdul Latheef Mohamed and Mohamed Anees have been appointed to the same posts at the Ministry of Economic Development, the President’s Office has revealed.
Their colleague, Minister of State Mohamed Ibrahim, has also been transferred to the same post at the Ministry of Environment and Energy.
Meanwhile, the removal of Deputy Transport Minister Ikram Hassan and Executive Coordinator Mohamed Azeem have been announced today. Three other deputy ministers were also removed from their posts with the abolition of the ministry on June 19.
Work conducted at the ministry has since been delegated to other ministries and institutions.
The Regional Airports Department has been transferred to the Ministry of Tourism, while the Transport Authority has been transferred to the Ministry of Economic Development.
The Communications Authority of Maldives was transferred under the Ministry of Home Affairs, although a number of other functions formerly fulfilled by the Transport Ministry have been delegated to the Environment, Home, Economic Development and Finance ministries.
Following the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives severing its coalition agreement with the Jumhooree Party(JP) in May, President Abdulla Yameen dismissed Transport Minister Ameen Ibrahim – who was filling a JP cabinet slot – from the post.
(0)Dislikes(0)Preliminary debate began at today’s sitting of parliament on an amendment seeking authority for the police and other investigative bodies to withhold passports for 24 hours without a court order.
The change to the Immigration Act was proposed by Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ibrahim Riza.
Presenting the legislation (Dhivehi) on behalf of the government, the MP for Kaafu Guraidhoo said its purpose was to bring the immigration law of 2007 in line with the revised constitution adopted in August 2008.
However, in the ensuing debate, opposition MPs contended that the amendment was unconstitutional as it would curtail fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution.
Jumhooree Party (JP) MP Ali Hussain said he feared the amendment would allow the government to withhold passports of MPs “without any reason for political purposes”.
The MP for Baa Kendhoo noted that police and other authorities would be authorised to hold passports without the knowledge of the passport holder.
Moreover, he added, passport holders would not be able to either contest or appeal the decision or advocate in their defence.
Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdul Ghafoor Moosa argued that granting authority to the police to hold passports was “contrary to the spirit of the constitution”.
He noted that the police presently have powers to arrest and detain suspects for 24 hours, adding that there had been no instance in the past seven years of a suspect absconding or flying overseas without the knowledge of the authorities.
Defending the amendment, PPM MP Ibrahim Didi, however, insisted that investigative bodies should have the authority to hold passports of suspects involved in serious crimes.
“24 hours is not a very long time. Even now, police arrest people for 24 hours. So I don’t believe a person could face too much harm if his passport is held for 24 hours,” the MP for Addu Feydhoo said.
MDP MP Mariya Ahmed Didi meanwhile referred to article 41(a) of the constitution, which states, “Every citizen has the freedom to enter, remain in and leave the Maldives, and to travel within the Maldives.”
The constitution did not envision that the right of freedom of movement could be restricted, she contended, adding that it was essential for the accused to be present during legal proceedings on withholding passports.
As suspects in police custody could not fly overseas, Mariya said she did not see the need for police to withhold their passports without a court warrant.
The most notable instance of court hearings being cancelled due to the defendant being abroad involved Home Minister Umar Naseer’s disobedience to order charges. Despite an arrest warrant being issued in his absence, the minister was not taken into custody on his return to the country.
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