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Elections Commission confident of resolving all voter registry issues

The Maldives Elections Commission (EC) has said it remains confident it will have resolved all 2,279 complaints raised by the public over the recently published list of eligible voters, in line with today’s deadline (June 14).

EC President Fuad Thaufeeq told Minivan News that the commission’s work amending the voter registry had so far gone “better than expected”, with all submissions received from the public amended. However, he conceded that challenges still remained in notifying all the complainants about the changes made to the list, as required by regulations.

“The challenge we have experienced so far is delivering the message to all the people who made these complaints that the requested changes have been made,” he said. “It is proving a bit difficult, though our staff are working very hard, in some cases up until 10:00pm at night to get hold of them.”

Transparency Maldives has meanwhile said that it has received only one significant complaint at present regarding outdated voter registry information, adding that all other complaints raised were small and sporadic in scale. However, the NGO said it continued to advocate a simplification of the present law on making further changes to the voter registry.

Thaufeeq said the corrected voter registry will then be published on either June 15 or June 16 in the government gazette and on the EC’s own website.

“What happens next?”

According to Transparency Maldives, anyone who has registered complaints with the EC regarding data on the voter registry will have five days to file a complaint with the High Court should they wish to appeal any decision made by the commission.

Under law, the High Court is then required to rule on any such appeal within 15 days.

Upon publication by the EC of the amended voter registry, any Maldives national over 18 will then be given a further 10 days to lodge any complaints concerning changes made to the list, the NGO added.

Transparency Maldives said the final process would be voter re-registration, where members of the public will be required to confirm or change their present permanent residence either in the country or abroad to confirm where they wish to vote.

The NGO emphasised that this stage will be critically important, as a person from an outer atoll presently living in Male’ will be required to return to their home island unless they re-register their new location with the EC.

A date for voter re-registration to begin has yet to be decided by the EC.

Simplification

Transparency Maldives Project Director Aiman Rasheed said the NGO had so far received only one significant compliant about the registry, which was made by members of Fuvahmulah council concerning the amount of outdated details of islanders on the list.

“The last time we spoke to the EC we raised this issue and they had a rational explanation for what had occurred. It seemed that people who moved house on the island or left for Male’ had not been updated,” he said.

Aiman said the EC had dealt with the issues where possible, with other corrections expected to be made during the re-registration process that will be announced at a later date.

“Apart from this, there have been no major complaints beyond some small, sporadic issues,” he added.

Aiman said that with an estimated 25 percent of the population living away from their registered address in the Maldives, re-registraton was expected to be a much larger issue towards ensuring the vote to everyone in the country eligible to do so.

He argued that the NGO still believed the voter registration could be simplified by requesting the public to check their permanent address at the same time as other details on the registry.

“The argument against this has been from the section of the population employed as fishermen, as they do not know where they will be later on in the year. It was therefore easier for them to wait nearer to the election,” Aiman said. “There is a challenge there, but we still feel [voter registration] should be simplified. This is of course not the EC’s fault though, this relates to the law.”

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President Waheed met with angry protests during “bittersweet” campaign trip to Thinadhoo

President Mohamed Waheed’s maiden campaign trip to Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll was met by hundreds of angry protesters who came out in opposition to the government’s heavy crackdown on the island following Waheed’s controversial ascension to power on February 7.

President Waheed has launched his presidential campaign under the slogan “forward with the nation”, after unveiling Ahmed Thasmeen Ali – leader of government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) – as his running mate.

Waheed is backed by what he contends is a “broad-coalition” of political parties including his own party Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP), the DRP, Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and religiously conservative Adaalath Party (AP).

At present, Waheed and Thasmeen will be standing against former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Yameen Abdul Gayoom – Gayoom’s half brother, and opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate former President Mohamed Nasheed.

He is also expected to face a candidate from the government-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), presently led by MP Gasim Ibrahim.

Following the scuffle on Thinadhoo – Waheed’s mother’s home island – the President expressed frustration over the incident on social media service Twitter, in which he blamed Nasheed and the MDP and declared that such actions “do not bear well for a free and fair election”.

Speaking to local newspaper Haveeru, Waheed’s party Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP) spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza alleged a group of MDP supporters came out to protest against Waheed. Some protesters also assaulted MP Ibrahim Muthalib from the Adhaalath Party, he alleged.

Riza claimed that Muthalib was saved from the protesters after the police intervened and calmed the situation.

According to media reports, objects including water bottles were also seen thrown at Waheed.

Thinadhoo saw some of the strongest reactions to the February 8 crackdown on protesters in Male’, with government offices and police stations destroyed across the island. Islanders were also reported to have blockaded the arrival of police reinforcements for days afterwards.

Police eventually arrested 17 people and later sent the names of 108 persons involved in the demonstrations for prosecution.

Family members no longer speak to me: President Waheed

Speaking at a campaign rally on the island, Waheed conceded that several family members including those residing on the island no longer spoke with him after the controversial transfer of power on February 7, 2012.

Waheed acknowledged that one of the main reasons why some of his family members had deserted him was that he was now working closely with those who had strong affiliations with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30-year autocratic regime. He said noted that his detractors included his own brothers and sisters, as well as cousins and nephews.

“It feels like they are trying to say that their brother doesn’t love them that much – and that is why he is working with people who we hate,” Waheed observed.

Waheed also spoke to the islanders about how his mother was subjected to torture and inhumane treatment following her mild criticism of Gayoom’s regime.

“As you would all know, back [during Gayoom’s regime] the political environment was such that criticising the government was a big crime. My mother while watching the TV said that Gayoom had lied. After that it was a very bitter experience,” he recalled.

“The poor lady was dragged to court, people gathered around her on the streets and pulled her hair, spat on her and committed other derogatory acts at that time in Male’.”

Waheed claimed that his mother never had any involvement in local politics and admitted that none of his family members would forget how Gayoom’s regime treated his mother.

Waheed said that despite this, the circumstances following the controversial resignation of former President Nasheed required him to take over the presidency. For that reason, Waheed said he had invited all political parties in the country to join his government.

“Among these [members of political parties] included those who caused such grief to my family. It is not that I don’t know who these people are, or that I chose to work with them. What was best for the country at that moment was for me to set aside my personal vengeance and to prioritise the country before my personal emotions,” he contended.

“Some of my family members could not take that. The result was that some of them, to this date, do not speak with me. Some of them even live in this island,” he said.

“Arriving in Thinadhoo gives me a bitter-sweet taste,” he added.

February 7

Nasheed’s arrest of Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed led to 22-days of continuous anti-government protests initiated by religious scholars and opposition leaders. This culminated in a police and military mutiny and the controversial stepping-down of former President Mohamed Nasheed on February 7, 2012.

Waheed – who was then vice-president – had shortly before the resignation publicly come out against Nasheed and joined the revolt, meeting key opposition party members in his residence at late hours the previous week.

Less than four hours after Nasheed resigned, Waheed took oath as the President, dismissed all Nasheed’s ministers and formed a coalition government with Nasheed’s political opponents.

Following the regime change, thousands of demonstrators came out in protest. Police retaliated with a brutal crackdown in front of international media.

The protests quickly spread across the country leading to arson attacks against government offices and the police stations.

“In essence, my statement is very small… I was forced to resign. I resigned under duress. I was threatened. If I did not resign within a stipulated period it would endanger mine and my family’s life. I understood they were going to harm a number of other citizens, party members. They were going to literally sack the town. I felt that I had no other option, other than to resign,” Nasheed told the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) that later investigated the transfer of power.

Despite the claim, the Commonwealth-backed CNI which included Waheed’s three hand-picked members, a Singaporean judge chosen by the government and a single representative from Nasheed who resigned in protest, dismissed allegations of a coup.

Subsequent legal analysis of the CNI final report by a team of high-profile Sri Lankan lawyers – including the country’s former Attorney General – accused the commission of exceeding its mandate, selectively gathering and acting upon evidence, and failing to adequately address the fundamental issue with which it was charged: determining whether former President Mohamed Nasheed resigned under duress.

Waheed has repeatedly dismissed the allegations and police have threatened to arrest anyone calling them ‘Baaghee’ (‘traitor’).

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Civil Court issues injunction blocking JSC from further action against Chief High Court Judge

The Civil Court has issued a temporary injunction ordering its own watchdog body, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), not to take any further action against Chief Judge of High Court Ahmed Shareef until it rules on a case concerning his suspension.

The new injunction issued by the Civil Court orders the JSC not to take any action against Chief Judge Shareef that would undermine his rights. The order will take effect until proceedings in the case filed by Chief Judge Shareef conclude.

Chief Judge Shareef’s lawyers originally requested the Civil Court invalidate JSC’s suspension but the court there was no reason to issue such an injunction.

In May the JSC ‘indefinitely suspended’ the Chief Judge over a complaint filed against the judge last year.

During a press conference held by the commission to announce its decision, JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla insisted that the disciplinary action had no relation to the ongoing High Court case filed by former President Mohamed Nasheed contesting the legitimacy of the Hulhumale’ Magistrate Court bench, appointed by the JSC.

According to Justice Adam Mohamed, the suspension was a “precautionary” measure while investigation of the complaint was proceeding.

“There are no legal grounds to stop looking into a complaint submitted [to the commission] or halt proceedings,” he said.

Shortly after the suspension, attorneys representing the High Court Chief Judge led by former Attorney General and President of Maldives Bar Association Husnu Al Suood filed a lawsuit at the Civil Court challenging the suspension.

Suood said Chief Judge Shareef had been suspended in contradiction of existing laws, and the decision undermined the independence a judge requires in executing his legal duties.

He said the Chief Judge’s team of counsels will plead in court that the decision by the JSC was an attempt to unduly exercise influence over judges. He also added that once the case is registered at the Civil Court, a request will be made at the Supreme Court to take over the case, as has been the previous practice.

“That is not a small thing when you get a suspension after one year. Suspending a country’s Chief High Court Judge  is not a small thing,” Suood told local media.

He also said the JSC’s passing a motion to suspend the judge with a vote of just three members – two of whom represented the executive – led to presumption that the vote had been influenced.

According to local media reports, the call for an indefinite suspension of the Chief Judge was proposed to the JSC by the incumbent Attorney General Aishath Bisham – who is yet to receive parliament’s consent following her appointment – and was passed by the vote of three members out of the 10-member commission.

“There is reason to believe this decision had political motives behind it,” Suood claimed at the time.

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Underwater “sci-fi” hotel proposed for Maldives

This story was first published on the Maldives resort review site, Dhonisaurus.com

Of all the phrases synonymous with the Maldives’ high-end island resort tourism, ‘Star-Trek’ or science fiction may not immediately spring to mind. However, things could be about to change under a new project reportedly approved by the country’s Ministry of Tourism this week.

CNN has reported that a ‘Water Discus Hotel’, designed by Poland-based design group Deep Ocean Technology, aims to marry the Maldives’ traditional over-the-water luxury and beach appeal with “opulent” undersea bedrooms.

The design, unveiled at the Maldives Hotel and Trade Exhibition in 2011, makes use of over-the-water, flying saucer-like disc sections containing a luxury restaurant and spa that are attached to 21 underwater bedrooms via a glass tunnel.

The article does not specify a date for completion of the project, or details on how it will be funded. Minivan News was awaiting a response from Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb at time of press.

Offsetting

Designers for the structure have explained that the hotel’s two main discs sit on a central pillar. The discs offset their respective weight because of their natural water buoyancy, so only minimal foundations are needed.

“The lower disc is filled with air and is buoyant and is anchored to the ground with steel lines,” architect Pawel Podwojewski explained to Minivan News in December 2011.

Concept art of the hotel

The seawater swimming pools on the top disc are four metres deep and balance the weight the structure, and can be used for diver training. In an emergency, or in the case of maintenance, the cables can be released, allowing the lower disc to automatically surface.

As well as enjoying a glimpse into the Maldives’ much-lauded underwater environs from the comfort of their own rooms, guests will also be able to use an on-site airlock compartment to dive right into the surrounding habitats, Podwojewski told CNN.

He also claimed that the hotel intended to offer excursions in a three passenger deep-sea submarine.

The hotel has been designed with the minimum structures needed to try and limit environmental impact, Podwojewski said this week.

In the case of local coral reefs that would be impacted directly by the construction, special plantations would be grown and relocated around the hotel once construction was complete, the designers claimed.

“The key is to touch the sea ground at just few points,” Podwojewski told CNN.

“Most probably the hotel will land on a flat sand area to reflect the sun rays inside the rooms and the reef will be additionally planted around the hotel rooms to enrich the view.”

According to the group’s website, Deep Ocean Technology was founded in 2010 by a group of scientists and engineers from the Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology, Gdańsk University of Technology, as well using the expertise of local research and development groups.

The company is backed by Swiss investors.

Innovation

The Maldives has in recent years seen a number of resorts trying to provide innovative – not to mention headline grabbing – underwater developments such as restaurants, spas and nightclubs.

Above the water, the country is also reportedly set to see the development of a series of man-made islands, including a 19-hole golf course complex, according to the company overseeing the project.

Paul Van de Camp, CEO of the Netherlands-based design group Dutch Docklands International has said the project, which proposes the creation of five man-made islands to support leisure activities in the Maldives, will begin by the end of 2013.

Set to combine underwater club houses, subterranean tunnels and private submarines, the golf course is expected to cost an estimated £320 million (MVR 7.6 billion), UK media has reported.

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Indian coastguard rescues crew of Maldivian cargo vessel

The Maldivian cargo ship MV Asian Express sank on Wednesday evening 300 kilometres west of Kochi, after its hull reportedly cracked below the waterline.

The ship, which was travelling to the Maldives from Pakistan carrying a cargo of sand and cement, suffered an engine failure on Tuesday evening and began drifting, reported IBN Live.

According to marine tracking reports, the Indian Coast Guard ship Varuna arrived to assist but was forced to abandon attempts to fix the engines because of rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.

The Indian coast guard subsequently evacuated all 22 crew members, including 18 Maldivians and four Indian nationals.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) confirmed it had received the first distress reports, and said the Maldivian crew were being transferred to Kochi following total loss of the vessel.

The MV Asian Express was carrying aggregate imported from Pakistan, after a shortage began impacting the Maldives’ construction industry.

Aggregate was previously imported to the Maldives from India under a special quota, however this was temporarily revoked on February 15 amid a breakdown in the country’s relationship over the government’s eviction of Indian infrastructure giant GMR and ongoing mistreatment of Indian nationals working in the country.

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Police forward Disaster Management Centre case to PG

Police have forwarded a MVR 24 million (US$1.55 million) corruption case involving the National Disaster Management Centre to the Prosecutor General, calling for charges against nine people including former head of the centre, Abdulla Shahid.

In a statement issued today police confirmed the case was forwarded to the PG and called for the prosecution of Abdulla Shahid, 50, Mohamed Shahid, 53 (the brother of parliament speaker Abdulla Shahid), Ahmed Najah, 24, of Maradhoo in Addu City, Ahmed Arif, 49, of Henveiru Everglow, Mohamed Waheed, 53, of Eydhafushi in Baa Atoll, Abdulla Saeed, 49, of Hoadedhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, Abdulla Hassan, 56, of Henveiru Sosunmead, Moosa Ali Kaleyfaanu, 49, of Kandholhudhoo in Raa Atoll, Ahmed Shammoon Zahir, 23, of Mahchangolhi Blackpool.

The case was first forwarded to police by the Auditor General on April 19, 2012, while the Anti-Corruption Commission forward the matter on January 18, 2013.

Police thanked the Anti-Corruption Commission and Auditor General’s Office for assistance in investigating the case.

The case involving the Disaster Management Centre concerns an audit report produced by the Auditor General. In the report, the Auditor General alleged that MVR 24 million (US$1.5 million) was fraudulently obtained from the budget allocated for the centre for the year 2009 and 2010.

The Auditor General’s special report into the case alleged that the Disaster Management Centre had photocopied, edited and reused ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ in 2005, to withdraw the MVR 24 million from the centre’s budget at the Finance Ministry.

The ‘Credit Purchase Order Forms’ were originally given to the Disaster Management Centre in 2005 to withdraw cash from the Tsunami Recovery Fund.

The Auditor General’s report also suggested that the Finance Ministry was complicit in the alleged fraud.

In March 2012, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) sent a corruption case to the Prosecutor General’s Office concerning the Disaster Management Centre and a housing project carried out on Gan in Laamu Atoll, following damage suffered in the 2004 tsunami.

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Finance Ministry requests suspension of vehicle domain number sales

The Ministry of Finance has requested authorities cease selling domain numbers for land vehicles pending an investigation into whether funds are being collected through the scheme in accordance to the Public Finance Act, local media has reported.

The suspension of domain numbers, an alternate form of registry for land vehicles, had been taken on advice from the attorney general, Transport Authority Chair Abdul Rasheed Nafiz has told Sun Online.

Nafiz said that a third sale phase for domain numbers was to have originally been announced this week, but had since been suspended due to the Finance Ministry’s request.

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad had his phone switched off at time of press.

Domain numbers – a condensed, four digit format of vehicle registration – are sold through an online auction with starting prices of MVR 25,000 for cars and MVR 15,000 for motorcycles, according to local media.

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Attorney General’s Office to decide on Yacht Tours injunction appeal in “days”

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) will announce in the “next few days” whether it will appeal an injunction preventing the state from taking over several properties operated by J Hotels and Resorts over a rent payment dispute.

Deputy Solicitor General Ahmed Usham told Minivan News today that the AGO was presently reviewing the Civil Court injunction issued earlier this month in order to decide whether to contest the matter.

“We have a time limit of 90 days – excluding public holidays – to file an appeal,” Usham said.

The government has sought to revoke the lease for Alidhoo Resort in Haa Alif Atoll and Kudarah Island Resort in South Alifu Atoll from J Hotels and Resorts’ parent company Yacht Tours Maldives since late last year.  The state had previously provided the operator a seven day period to hand over the properties.

However, Yacht Tours Maldives – formed by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Abdulla Jabir – has continued to contest the government’s right to reclaim the land.

In the Civil Court injunction issued on June 4 this year, the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture was told it could not take over the resorts until a final ruling had been made over the issue of unpaid rent claimed to be owed by Yacht Tours.

Yacht Tours Director Ibrahim Shiham last week accused the government of trying to come on to the Kudarah resort property on June 3 without a court warrant to take over the property, alleging authorities had sought to create a “political drama” out of the case.

The Tourism Ministry told local media at the time that Yacht Tours had continuously failed to pay back the rent and fines in installments as previously agreed following a first termination notice being sent.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb at time of press.

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Government paid Baroness Scotland £50,000 in excess of agreed consultancy fee

The government paid former UK Attorney General and member of the House of Lords, Baroness Patricia Scotland, £50,000 (MVR1.25 million) in excess of an agreed fee for legal advice concerning the Maldives’ suspension from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the 2012 audit report of the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has revealed.

The audit report (Dhivehi) made public yesterday (June 11) revealed that a terms of reference (ToR) to hire an unnamed foreign legal expert was signed by the AGO on May 28, 2012, after the Maldives was suspended from CMAG – the Commonwealth’s human rights and democracy arm – and placed on its formal agenda following former President Mohamed Nasheed’s allegation that he resigned “under duress” on February 7, 2012 amid a violent mutiny by sections of the police and military.

Auditors discovered that the legal expert – revealed in the media at the time to be Baroness Scotland – was paid £50,000 without signing a formal agreement in addition to a consultancy fee of £75,000 (MVR 1.81 million) agreed upon in the ToR.

“The Attorney General’s Office informed [auditors] that the fee paid in excess of the agreed upon fee was for further advisory and drafting work that was required,” the audit report stated. “However, we note that this additional legal advice could not be discerned [from any documentation].”

As the additional fee was 66 percent of the consultancy fee included in the ToR, “this office believes that the work could not be done without both parties signing an agreement in accordance with section 8.22 of the public finance regulations.”

Section 8.22 stipulates that consultancy work needs to assigned on the basis of a contract with specific terms mutually agreed upon.

Auditor General Niyaz Ibrahim therefore recommended legal action against the responsible officials as the excess amount was paid in violation of article 47(b) of the Public Finance Act.

The audit report also noted that the AGO spent MVR108,902 (US$7,062) on plane tickets and accommodation for Baroness Scotland and her assistant for a visit to the Maldives, despite the lack of provisions for the expenses in the ToR.

The Auditor General’s Office recommended that such expenses for amenities along with fees for any additional work should be stated in the contract.

The report also revealed that the AGO spent MVR 16.9 million (US$1 million) in excess of the annual budget for the office approved by parliament.

A total of MVR 16.3 million was spent with approval from the finance ministry for consultancy work by foreign legal experts, the report noted.

The Auditor General’s Office contended that the expenditure in excess of the approved budget was in violation of article 96(c) of the constitution, the Public Finance Act, and public finance regulations.

Article 96(c) of the constitution states, “No supplementary expenditures shall be added to an approved budget without further approval by the People’s Majlis. Expenditures included in the budget shall be applied solely for the specified purpose.”

Among the cases for which the AGO sought foreign legal assistance were the termination of a concession agreement with Indian infrastructure giant GMR to develop the international airport, disputes concerning a border control agreement with Malaysian firm Nexbis and payments owed for the “Maldives Asset Tracing, Recovery and Repatriation Engagement” investigation launched in 2010 by the now-dissolved Presidential Commission.

The audit report revealed that a ToR was signed with a Singaporean law firm on March 1, 2012 for legal assistance concerning the contract disputes involving GMR and Nexbis.

Following the cancellation of the concession agreement with GMR, the law firm was retained under a second ToR for the arbitration process currently ongoing in Singapore.

The audit found that neither the fee nor expenses for the lawyers were stipulated in the ToR as required under section 8.22 of the public finance regulations.

Instead, the Singaporean law firm was to bill the AGO for its services at a price of its choosing, the report stated.

The AGO paid the firm a total of MVR 7.1 million (US$460,440) in 2012 for legal assistance and other expenses.

A British lawyer was also hired in November 2012 until the conclusion of the arbitration process involving the GMR contract without signing an agreement stipulating the price as required by the public finance regulations.

The AGO paid the lawyer MVR 1.2 million (US$77,821) in 2012.

The Auditor General recommended legal action against the responsible officials at the AGO in accordance with article 48 of the Public Finance Act.

Among other cases flagged in the audit report as ostensible violations of public finance law, auditors discovered that the AGO spent MVR 76,810 (US$4,981) for purchases and services without approval from senior officials as required by section 8.05 of the public finance regulations.

Moreover, the AGO bought airplane tickets worth MVR 45,994 (US$2,982) without seeking prices from at least three parties as required by section 5.03 of the public finance regulations.

Baroness Scotland

In August 2012, Minivan News obtained the terms of reference document for the contract, which was signed by then-Deputy Attorney General, Aishath Bisham, who succeeded Aishath Azima Shukoor in April 2013.

The leaked document also included a letter in Dhivehi sent from the Attorney General’s office to Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad requesting authorisation for Baroness Scotland’s “unprecedented work/expense” following her visit to the Maldives.

“There was no contract made. With this letter we ask if attached terms of reference are sufficient as a contract,” the AGO wrote.

Following media reports in the UK, then-Attorney General Azima insisted that the expenses for Baroness Scotland were made out of the proper budget code with approval from the finance ministry.

Baroness Scotland came under fire in the UK press after the story emerged in the Daily Mail. The Mail established that the peer and former Attorney General had not listed the payment from the Maldives on the House of Lords’ register of members’ interests.

“Her entry says she has set up a firm to provide ‘private consultancy services’ but says it is ‘not trading at present’,” the Daily Mail reported.

In a statement, Baroness Scotland confirmed she had been “instructed by the Attorney General of the Maldives to give legal advice”, and slammed the leak of the terms of reference and “all communications passing between myself and the Attorney General, whether written or oral, pertaining to the nature and extent of that advice, as confidential and legally privileged.”

She additionally claimed to have been approached by both the government and the opposition, and said she had accepted an invitation to chair a roundtable “at which all parties are to be invited.”

“I am a senior barrister with specific expertise in the area of constitutional law, criminal and civil law reform, and am skilled in mediation,” she explained.

Baroness Scotland was previously scrutinised by the UK press in 2009 after she was found to have been employing an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper in her London home.

As the story emerged, MPs from the UK’s Conservative Party – which has long backed Nasheed and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) – seized the opportunity to attack the former UK Labour Party Cabinet Minister.

Conservative MP Karen Lumley told the Daily Mail that is was “disgusting that a former British attorney-general should take a well-paid job advising the new regime, which has no democratic mandate. President Nasheed was overthrown in a coup and the Maldives is now very unstable. Many of my friends there have been arrested by the new regime.”

Conservative MP John Glen told the paper that Baroness Scotland should “hang her head in shame”.

“What happened in the Maldives was a military coup,” he said, adding that it was “outrageous” that the former AG should be “advising a regime responsible for ousting a democratically-elected president.”

Former Maldives High Commissioner to the UK, Dr Farahanaz Faizal, described the government’s employment of Baroness Scotland as “absolutely shocking. If the government wanted legal advice to support the AG’s Office, the proper way is to request the UK government bilaterally.”

“To think that someone of her calibre would undertake an assignment to check if Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Bangladesh, Jamaica, and others of CMAG had acted against their mandate is disgraceful,” Dr Faizal said.
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