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JP nominees for political appointees unqualified, says President Yameen

Jumhooree Party (JP) has failed to gain allocated seats in political positions because nominees put forth by the party are unqualified, President Abdulla Yameen has said.

“The privatization board dismissed nominees put forth by Gasim because they are unqualified,” Yameen told the press at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport yesterday evening.

JP Leader Gasim Ibrahim had claimed Yameen’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) had breached the ruling coalition agreement’s by refusing to give the party a 35 percent stake in political appointees.

Gasim’s comments came in response to the PPM executive council’s warning on Monday night that the coalition would dissolve if he stood for the position of People’s Majlis Speaker. The PPM would consider such a move to be a breach of the agreement, the party said.

But Gasim accused PPM of breaching the agreement first, claiming the JP had received only 34 seats of the 300 political appointees. He has also refused to retract his decision to contest for the position of Majlis Speaker.

Yameen said it was important for a PPM MP to be elected to the position: “The speakership is very important to the ruling party. Then only can we do what we want to do with ease.”

“Gasim does not trust us. That is why he is standing despite us nominating someone else,” he said.

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Coach labels players “heroes” after dramatic cup knock-out

Maldives coach Drago Mamic has described his players as “heroes” after their dramatic extra-time defeat in yesterday’s AFC Challenge Cup semi-final.

“I told the players after the game that they are my heroes and I am proud of them and the whole country must be proud for what these boys showed today,” said Maldives coach Drago Mamic.

The Maldives exited the tournament after having fallen behind twice to the Philippines n the match before levelling the score. A third comeback proved too much for the team, however, after Chris Greatwich put the Philippines ahead once more in the 104th minute.

“Both teams should have won today if this can exist in the rules,” said Mamic. “But unfortunately the rules are very clear that who scores more goals will be the winner and that is why this time the Philippines scored three and we scored two and my congratulations to the Philippines as they scored more goals.”

The Phillipines will go onto play Palestine in Friday’s final after beating Afghanistan 2-0 in the day’s early kick-off. The winner will go on to appear in next year’s Asian Cup in Australia.

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Legal restrictions a challenge to investment expansion: Pension Office

The Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO) has said legal restrictions are preventing the expansion of investments into profitable industries such as real estate.

The MPAO cannot invest in real estate as none are currently listed securities at the Maldives Stock Exchange, the only registered stock exchange in the country, said CEO Mohamed Hussain Manik.

The Maldives Pension Act states that pension assets can only be invested in securities listed at a licensed stock exchange in the Maldives.

Manik said the office was currently in the process of identifying reliable and secure investments at technical level. Based on the findings of this work, the MPAO will consider expansion, but it may require amendments to the law, he added.

In order to prepare for the future plans for expansion, the MPAO recently held an investment seminar targeting the finance sector as well as a finance forum to discuss international finance and capital markets.

While the Pension Act details many conditions which should be considered when investing from the fund – such as minimum risk and maximum returns for the beneficiaries of the scheme – it also stresses diversification of investments.

According to the office, the annual return from current investments are on average at 7 – 8 percent with the fund expected to reach an estimated MVR3 billion by September or October this year.

In a press statement, the office has said that, considering the current inflation rates, this return is profitable for the beneficiaries for the scheme.

It was highlighted, however, that in order to sustain the increasing returns as the fund grows in size, they may have to take advantage of more investment opportunities both in the Maldives and abroad.

Statistics from April 2014 indicate that nearly 83 percent of the fund’s investment portfolio goes into government treasury bills which, according to the office, is also the most profitable due to high interest rates caused by increasing government debt.

Only 7 percent of it is invested in domestic equity and less than seven percent in fixed deposits.

Earlier this month the Capital Market Development Authority (CMDA) – an independent institution set up to develop and regulate the capital market and pension industry – said market development had not kept pace with pension development.

Speaking to Minivan News, CEO of the authority Fathimath Shafeega highlighted the importance of diversification and seeking profitable alternative investments for the pension fund, beyond the limitations of the Pension Act.

She also said that, following CMDA recommendations, the government – which holds a majority in the newly inaugurated parliament – is planning to introduce amendments to the Pension Act.

Beginning in March this year, the government more than doubled the monthly basic pension – with all citizens aged over 65 now receiving MVR5,000.

The basic pension, to which all retirement-age citizens are entitled, is still MVR 2,300 per month while the additional MVR2,700 is provided from the state budget by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

With an estimated 17,000 pensioners, the government had allocated MVR470 million (US$30.5 million) in the state budget to give out an MVR2,300 (US$149) in cash handouts.

At the time, the head of the cabinet’s economic council Ahmed Adeeb said that “innovative” methods, such as investing in the pension fund or government T-bills would prevent the need to divert funds from within the state budget. The MPAO has, however, said that no such arrangements have yet been made with regard to the basic pension.

The MPAO investments are currently made only for the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme (MRPS) beneficiaries, a defined contribution scheme which requires both employer and employees to contribute seven percent (total fourteen percent) of the pensionable wage.

Under the plan, pension benefit payout at retirement will depend on the amount contributed and investment returns. It is mandatory for all Maldivian contract employees but voluntary for foreign employees.

Currently, MRPS beneficiaries will also receive a minimum of MVR5,000 if their payout is smaller than this amount.

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Supreme Court issues child support regulations

The Supreme Court has issued a ruling on child support on Tuesday to standardise expenses obtained by the judiciary for childcare support.

The apex court said parents must pay at least MVR2000 if child support is being provided for one child under 18 years of age. The amount includes MVR1000 for expenses for a child and an additional MVR1000 to support the guardian of the child.

If a parent has to provide support to more than one child, they must pay at least MVR1000 for each child.

Furthermore, the parent has to provide at least MVR1000 to support the parent or guardian of the children, even in cases where a parent has to support children from multiple partners.

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Progressive coalition will dissolve if Gasim runs for speaker, says PPM

Ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has announced that the ruling coalition will dissolve if the coalition partner Jumhooree Party leader Gasim Ibrahim stands as speaker of the newly elected People’s Majlis.

The 18th People’s Majlis is due to be sworn in tomorrow, with the new speaker to be elected by secret ballot.

Gasim has responded by saying he will not retract his name, claiming the PPM was the first to breach the coalition agreement made during November’s presidential elections.

“Truth is, they have been trying to kick us out of the coalition for a long time now,” Gasim told the press today.

After coming third in the presidential polls, Gasim’s support was crucial in securing a win for the PPM against the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Gasim’s support was given in exchange for a 35 percent stake in executive political postings and a promise to work together during subsequent local government and parliament elections.

The Progressive Coalition secured a combined total of 53 out of 85 seats in parliamentary polls, no party won enough seats to reach the 43-vote simple majority alone.

Who broke the agreement?

PPM deputy leader, and minister of tourism, Ahmed Adeeb further warned last night that he would request President Abdulla Yameen replace JP political appointees should Gasim stand as speaker.

“From [Gasim’s] actions, we are seeing him working together with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to acquire the speaker’s seat,” said Adeeb.

“As MDP worked to present obstacles to this government when they held parliamentary majority, we cannot accept a coalition member working alongside them,” he continued.

PPM leader and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had also written to Gasim, describing a recent meeting with MDP leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed as being against the “coalition’s spirit”.

During the meeting at Gasim’s residence last month, Nasheed had signalled the MDP’s support for Gasim – a stance reiterated today.

Gasim subsequently called a press conference today during which he argued it was not his party but the PPM, which had breached the agreement.

Holding up the agreement, he said coalition partners had agreed to hold discussions to resolve any issues not included therein.

The PPM had unilaterally informed him they would nominate separate candidates for the position, said the JP leader, who also complained of not receiving the party’s quota of appointments.

“The agreement says 35 per cent of political appointments will be given to us, which would amount to between 90 to 40 posts when we consider the total number of political appointments in this government. However, today we have only about 29 slots,” Gasim explained.

Gasim stated that he had received the support of President Yameen, Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim, and Adeeb prior to publicly announcing his candidacy.

“Nazim and Adeeb said it’s a good decision and wished me luck. No one asked me to not put my name forward or mentioned they wanted to further discuss the matter. Then without any notice, they make this announcement about breaking up the coalition,” Gasim said.

“I will always work for the rights of the people. We do not want another administration where the president can unilaterally call the shots on all matters. We need a democratic system,” he continued.

JP MP Ahmed Sameer added that the coalition agreement signed by Gayoom and Deputy Leader Abdu Raheem explicitly stated that the agreement will be in effect until November 11, 2018.

“So how can they just break up the coalition like this? What more is there to say about people like them? Where is the justice in these actions of theirs?” Sameer asked.

“Parliament must be led by PPM”

Speaking to local media yesterday, President Yameen said he believed Gasim must withdraw from the speakership claiming it to be the “general norm around the world” for the majority party to hold the speaker’s seat.

Contrary to the JP’s claims, he claimed that the PPM had sent Gasim a number of letters and held discussions on the matter.

The PPM yesterday announced that it planned to nominate the party’s parliamentarians Abdulla Maseeh and Abdu Raheem Abdulla for speaker and deputy speaker, respectively.

Current Deputy Speaker of parliament Ahmed Nazim – affiliated with the PPM – has also expressed interest in the position, though Yameen has expressed confidence that Nazim would not run against the party’s wishes.

Meanwhile, the deputy leader of second coalition partner the Maldivian Development Alliance (MDA), Ahmed Amir, has also announced he will be running for speaker.

Saying that the PPM announced its nominees after he had already decided to contest,  Amir said he had no intention of withdrawing his name, though the PPM has promised action against any competing coalition candidates.

The MDP announced last Friday (May 23) that the party’s 25 MPs-elect would back a candidate who support’s the parties policies, including judicial reform, empowerment of local councils as well as the introduction of a progressive income tax and a minimum wage.

Following the signing of three out of the five independent candidates elected to the 18th parliament, the PPM currently has 37 seats, followed by the opposition MDP with 25 seats, the JP with 15 seats, the MDA with five seats, and the religious conservative Adhaalath Party with one seat.

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Second Maldivian killed in Syria, claims jihadist media

A second Maldivian man has been killed in Syria in a gunfight with soldiers loyal to Bashar Al Assad, according to Bilad Al Sham Media (BASM), an online media group ostensibly run by Maldivians in Syria.

While the group revealed this week that a 44-year-old Maldivian man was killed in a suicide attack on Sunday (May 25), BASM claimed on social media that the second Maldivian militant – who had taken the name Abu Nuh – died during “regular combat” in the northwestern town of Ariha.

Local media has identified the deceased as Hassan Shifaz, of Galolhu New Moon in the capital Malé. The first Maldivian has also been identified as Ali Adam from the island of Feydhoo in Shaviyani atoll.

Both the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Maldives Police Service (MPS) have since launched investigations into the incident.

Bilad Al Sham Media meanwhile posted a message on Facebook today allegedly from Shifaz’s wife.

“I am proud of my husband. He was a loyal husband, a great father and a righteous son. His entire family is proud and happy for him for we cannot even imagine the provisions Allah swt will provide for him,” she wrote.

“Leaving us and all he had in this world was the toughest choice he made but still he sacrificed this worldly life for his aakhira [afterlife]. He was supportive all throughout his life, a guard always on duty looking out for his family.”

“He proved to us that he is not just a smart mouth who only had words to fight with, but he showed us with his actions that he meant everything he said,” read the post.

According to BASM, the first Maldivian – who took the name Abu Turab – entered Syria after a “long tiring journey” but remained fasting and spent months in the mountains before the attack.

BASM’s tweets were responded to by Sheikh Abu Sulayman al-Australi – an Australian preacher – who said that “Maldivians are some of the most courageous & well-mannered Mujahideen”.

Abu Sulayman is a member of the shariah council of Jabhat Al Nusra, Al-Qaeda affiliated fighters in Syria. Following BASM’s tweets about the second Maldivian, Sulayman replied, “He came to me a few days ago, RA asking to intercede for a martydom [sic] operation he signed for. He sought & shahadah came.”

Minivan News’ coverage

BASM has also posted a statement on Facebook objecting to Minivan News “characterising Bilad al-Sham Media as a group rather than being a media.”

“We stress that we are a media and we are located in Syria only. The Muslims who share and like our posts cannot be classed as members of this Media,” the statement read.

“This is no other than an attempt by the Minivan News to back the statement of a Sri Lankan group which claimed presence of ‘terror cells’ inside Maldives. And this is reflected in one of the News articles last paragraphs where they quoted the Sri Lankan group after designing the article in a way to guide the reader to understand that there are ‘terror cells’ in Maldives.”

BASM also contended that Minivan News misquoted Sheikh Abu Buran as saying that Abu Turab was no longer in need of prayers.

“This is a lie and the Sheikh did not say this. Rather we quoted the Sheikh and this is what we wrote: ‘He asked the Sheikh Abu Burhan al-Suri to make Du’a for him, then the Sheikh smiled and replied to the brother: “You are not in need from US to make Dua””

And you can see that we wrote the word “us” in capital letters and the reader can easily understand that the context being spoken is a context of humility from the Sheikh infront of Abu Turab. It is as if he was saying: ‘Who am I to make Dua for a great man like you?’ So the Sheikh was humbling himself infront of Abu Turab and nothing else.

But Minivan News distorted it and made the Sheikh look like as if he was a Sufi and distorted his words to make the reader understand as if the Sheikh is saying that Abu Turab has reached such a high status that he was no longer in need of a certain form of Duas. Subhaanallah.”

Moreover, BASM contended that Minivan News also misquoted from a video titled ‘The obligation of Jihad’ posted by the group in which a masked man holding a rifle preaches in Dhivehi, who stated: “the rulers of the Maldives are disbelievers and if they are disbelievers, they should be fought.”

“This is a lie as the speaker said ‘if they are disbelievers, then the RULING about DISBELIEVERS is that they be fought,'” BASM explained in the statement.

“And there is a huge difference between the two sentences. The speaker said the statement in his phrase to make it understood that it’s the Islamic ruling to fight disbelieving rulers, but at the same time, such rulings are dependent upon Siyasat al-Shar’iyya (Shar’i politics) and the speaker does not see it politically fit to wage war in the Maldives. Hence he stayed away from stating such.”

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Maldives accepts India’s leadership role, says President Yameen

President Abdulla Yameen has said that the Maldives accepts India’s leadership role in the international arena and that this special position would benefit SAARC countries.

Yameen’s words came this morning at a meeting with the newly elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which both leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations.

Yameen is in India on a two-day state visit to attend Modi’s inauguration ceremony, held yesterday evening. The Indian prime minister invited leaders from all SAARC countries to the ceremony, holding  bilateral talks each of them. Yameen today congratulated Modi and thanked him for the invitation.

According to the President’s Office of Maldives, Modi highlighted in particular the close relations between the two countries under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s leadership, and expressed his confidence that it could be “restored” in the future.

A focal point of the meeting appeared to be the importance of strengthening the SAARC organisation, with Yameen told Modi that inviting all SAARC leaders to his inauguration – particularly from Pakistan – was a display of the importance with which he is treating the association.

According to the President’s Office, PM Modi told Yameen that making SAARC a powerful organisation in the region should be prioritised over bilateral issue among its countries.

Noting the importance of making SAARC an internationally reputed organisation, Modi said that the group should take initiative in bringing global warming and its negative impact on the environment to global attention, suggesting that SAARC should be expanding the renewable energy industry.

‏As Yameen thanked India for its continued cooperation with the Maldives, Modi assured he would provide assistance in providing  higher education opportunities in India for Maldivian students .

He said the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives have been increasing and his government will fully cooperate with initiatives to promote Maldives tourism in India, particularly in regions like Kerala and Gujarat. Indian visitors to the Maldives increased by nearly 20 percent in 2013, while still accounting for only 3.4 percent of total arrivals.

Foreign ministers and high commissioners from both countries were also present at the meeting.

In addition to President Yameen, former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed, as well as Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla, have congratulated Modi upon his election victory.

Maldives’ long standing bilateral relations with India were strained following the controversial power transfer of February 2012  and President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s assumption of power, particularly following the premature cancellation of Indian Infrastructure company GMR’s $511 million airport project in 2012.
While President Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) formed part Waheed’s national unity government, since taking office in November 2013, he  has made the strengthening of Maldivian-Indian ties a priority.

In January 2014, Yameen met the former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in India – his first official trip out of Maldives following his inauguration.  Prior to that in December 2013 his Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim visited India and met with senior government officials and reassured bilateral defence cooperation.

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Maldives aims to boost Australian tourism with roadshow

The ‘Dive into Maldives’ roadshow kicked off yesterday (May 26) in Australia, with the objective of boosting Australian tourism in Maldives.

Organised by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC), ten representative partners from the tourism industry of Maldives are participating in the roadshow together with the corporation.

According to an established resort manager, the Maldives is still a relatively unknown destination in Australia, due to little exposure from tourism operators.

“Many people [in Australia] still don’t know where it is. People are hearing about it, but there is limited public information,” the source told Minivan News.

“We have seen some growth,” the industry source continued, “they have a lot of their own islands, like Bali and Thailand that are cost effective, but now they’re looking for the next destination.”

According to the MMPRC, the roadshow offers a platform for the Maldives to establish direct contact with the Australian travel trade.

It is also an opportunity for the Australian travel trade to receive the latest updates regarding the Maldives, as well as the chance to directly meet the representatives of some of the Maldives’ most popular hotels, resorts, and travel agents who are participating in the roadshow.

An overwhelming response was received from the Australian travel trade for the Maldives roadshow participation, indicating their level of interest in the destination, according to a press release from the MMPRC.

Visits from Australian tourists made up 1.4 per cent of the visitors to the Maldives up to April of this year, and a total of 16,913 visitors from Australia visited Maldives last year – a growth of 38.1% compared to the previous year.

The roadshow will be held in three major cities – Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth – for three consecutive days, and will finish tomorrow (May 28).

Similar roadshows were held in China in 2012, following the explosion in Chinese tourist arrivals.

The main aims of the tour in China was to build confidence in the Maldives as a destination as well as to portray the country as an investment opportunity.

In 2011, China became the market leader in terms of visitors to the country, when the number of visitors from China surpassed those from Britain, reaching 198,000.

Since then, by individual market performances, China has remained the overall market leader to the Maldives, making up over 26% of shares by the end of April 2014.

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Indian expatriate found dead in Thilafushi

An Indian expatriate was found dead in his living quarters in the industrial island of Thilafushi last night (May 26), local media reports.

The apparent suicide was reported to police around 9:40 pm after the Indian national was discovered by his co-workers. The man appears to have hung himself, local media said.

According to the co-workers, the man had been missing for two days.

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