Author: Ahmed Naish

PPM approves party constitution, council and logo at inaugural convention

The incipient Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) approved the party’s constitution, manifesto, interim council, leadership posts, logo and colour at its inaugural convention last night.

Party figurehead former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was elected acting leader while his half-brother MP Abdulla Yameen was elected parliamentary group leader.

Gayoom was the only candidate who stood for the post of party leader.

The convention took place at Dharubaaruge with 971 delegates and was assisted by officials of the Elections Commission (EC). A minimum of 300 participants were required for the inaugural meeting.

Large number of supporters queued outside Dharubaaruge before 8:00pm while registration difficulties caused a delay of almost two hours. As voting went on late into the night, the convention concluded shortly before 6:00am this morning.

Prior to the inaugural convention, the EC had verified and approved the membership forms of 3,019 party members.

The convention was chaired by former Speaker of Parliament ‘Seena’ Ahmed Zahir, who also served as Justice Minister in the previous government.

PPM logoA crescent and palm tree logo designed by Hussein Mazin and MP Ahmed Mahlouf was adopted with 751 votes while the colour magenta was chosen with 603 votes.

The senior members elected to the interim council were Umar Naseer (fromer Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party deputy leader), Mohamed Hussein Shareef ‘Mundhu’, Aishath Azima Shukoor (former Attorney General), Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim, Faris Maumoon, Aneesa Ahmed (former MP and minister), Ahmed ‘Maaz’ Saleem, Ibrahim Nazim, Rashida Yousuf (former minister), Dr Aishath Shiham (former minister), Ahmed Siddeeq, Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla, Mohamed Nimal, Asma Rasheed, Ibrahim Muaz Ali and Ahmed Naseem.

A provision in the party constitution required that at least four women be elected to the council.

Eleven MPs were meanwhile elected to the council through the parliamentary group. They were Abdulla Yameen (Mulaku), Ahmed Mahlouf (Galolhu South), Ahmed Nihan (Vili-Male’), Abdul Raheem Abdulla (Laamu Fonadhoo), Hamdhoon Hameed (Raa Inguraidhoo), Ilham Ahmed (Gemanafushi), Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem (Eydhafushi), Dr Afrashim Ali (Ungoofaru), Mohamed Mujthaz (Hanimaadhoo), Ali Arif (Vaikaradhoo) and Abdul Muhsin Hameed (Nilandhoo).

In his closing remarks at the end of the convention, former President Gayoom insisted that PPM “does not belong to a particular person.”

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom enters the meeting to a standing ovation.

“PPM is not going to try to create opportunities in the political arena for a particular person or group,” he said. “PPM is being formed for the whole nation. It is being formed for the holy religion of Islam. This party will always serve Islam and the Dhivehi nation.”

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Suspect in Sultan Park bombing arrested in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police on Thursday apprehended Maldivian national Mohamed Ameen, 27, who has an Interpol red notice for his alleged involvement in the Sultan park bombing incident in 2007.

According to Sri Lankan media, a Colombo magistrate court yesterday ordered Ameen to be remanded in custody for two weeks.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed the arrest today. The suspect was arrested based on information provided to the Sri Lankan authorities by Maldivian police, he said.

Ameen was arrested after he traveled to Sri Lanka from Pakistan on a fake passport, Shiyam explained.

Sri Lankan media reported that Ameen was arrested at Payagala level crossing on Galle road and had two fake Maldivian passports as well as a Pakistani passport in his possession.

The 27-year-old had reportedly fled the Maldives before the bombing took place on September 29, 2007. The bomb blast from a homemade IED (improvised explosive device) was the first bombing incident in the country.

The bomb blast at the Sultan park – a major tourist attraction in the capital located in front of the Islamic Centre – was triggered using a mobile phone and washing machine motor attached to a gas cylinder.

The attack injured 12 tourists, including eight from China, two from Britain and two from Japan. The incident received widespread publicity around the globe, damaging the country’s tourism industry.

The attack meanwhile prompted the authorities to declare a state of high alert and police arrested 12 suspects within 48 hours.

Terrorism charges were filed against 16 suspects, including ten who had fled the country.

In addition to Mohamed Ameen, Interpol red notices were issued for Hussain Simaad, 25, of Baa atoll Dharavandhoo; Hassan Riyaz, 21, of Haa Dhaalu atoll Nellaidhoo; Mohamed Imad, 27, of Baa atoll Dharavandhoo; Abdul Latheef Ibrahim, 25, of Laamu atoll Kalhaidhoo; Mohamed Iqbal, 42 of Maafannu Naseemee Manzil; Moosa Manik, 20, of Seenu atoll Hithadhoo; Hassan Yoosuf, 24, of Laamu atoll Kalaidhoo; Ali Shameem, 25 of Shaviyani atoll Komandoo; and Ibrahim Maslamath of Maafannu Gold Ring.

Three men – Mohamed Sobah, 19, Moosa Inaz, 21, and Ahmed Naseer, 20 – were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in December 2007 after they confessed to the crime.

In August 2010, the current administration commuted the sentences of Ahmed Naseer and Mohamed Sobah from incarceration to three year suspended sentences under observation.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News at the time that the pair “were not the people who were in charge of doing this, they did not having the highest involvement.”

He added that the government wished to “provide an opportunity for everyone to be involved in the society, and the opportunity to rehabilitate and recover.”

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Airfrance to introduce scheduled flights to Maldives, says President

French flag carrier airline Airfrance is in the process of introducing scheduled flights to the Maldives in late 2012, President Mohamed Nasheed announced yesterday in his weekly radio address.

Delivering the radio address Friday morning shortly after his return from an official visit to France last week, President Nasheed said he met the Vice-President of Airfrance and was informed that preliminary preparations for the scheduled flights would take six months.

“Nevertheless, we expect that God willing an Airfrance scheduled flight will begin operations to the Maldives in Europe’s winter of 2012,” he said.

The government delegation also met with French tour operators to discuss ways to increase tourist arrivals from France, Nasheed added.

Prominent resort businessman and Independent MP Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam was part of the Maldives delegation.

“As you know, at the moment about 40,000 tourists from France visit the Maldives [annually],” Nasheed said. “Our aim is to double that figure and undertake efforts to attract French tourists in the same numbers as British tourists come to the Maldives right now.”

Tourist arrivals reached a record high in 2010 with 791,917 arrivals, a 20 percent increase compared to 2009. Tourists from the United Kingdom accounted for 15 percent of the total arrivals at 118,961.

While arrivals from France were considerably lower than England or the UK as a whole, the French market grew by nine percent in 2010 from the previous year. Some 50,373 French tourists visited the Maldives in 2009.

The Maldives meanwhile signed the Paris-Nairobi Initiative during the visit, Nasheed continued, which would facilitate French assistance for renewable energy programmes and adaptation measures for beach erosion.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing.President Nasheed signed the accord on behalf of the Maldives at a meeting with Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing.

The Maldivian delegation also met with senior officials of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), a French bilateral development finance institution, who “gave the green light” for more water and sewerage projects in addition to the sewerage projects AFD has undertaken in Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo and Laamu Gan.

“Additionally, good discussions took place with the French Foreign Minister,” Nasheed continued. “He welcomed our standing together with France on the issue of Libya. I thanked the French government on behalf of the Maldivian people for their efforts to help the people of Libya.”

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Parliament rejects proposed company law

Parliament yesterday rejected at the preliminary stage a bill proposed by the government to modernise the existing Companies Act as part of its 18-bill economic reform package.

The bill was narrowly rejected 37-36 in a vote to send the draft legislation to committee for further review.

Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader Gasim Ibrahim – who voted with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in August to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST) legislation, the first of the 18 economic reform bills to be passed – cast the swing vote against the proposed company law.

According to the government, the purpose of the bill was to modernise bureaucratic procedures for formation and registration of companies and facilitate ease of doing business.

Among the main changes proposed to the existing law were enabling formation of companies with a single shareholder or a single director (the law currently requires at least two); abolishing the annual companies fee; specifying procedures for seeking authorisation from government agencies along with registration procedures for foreign investment companies; enabling the registration of branches of foreign or multi-national companies in the Maldives; outlining criteria for company directors and managing directors; specifying procedures for public disclosure; streamlining the process for dissolving registered companies; and delegating the tasks of the companies registrar to local councils.

During the preliminary debate stage, opposition MPs however contended that as a Companies Act was enacted in 1996, the government could not propose a bill under the same name.

MP Abdulla Yameen, who served as Trade Minister and chairman of the State Trading Organisation (STO) under the previous government, objected to a provision stipulating that the minimum capital required to register a company would be Rf2,000.

With the country’s level of development and an annual budget in excess of Rf12 billion, said Yameen, the figure was too low especially if directors’ and shareholders’ liability would be limited.

“The bill also proposes the creation of companies for a particular project. For a particular period,” he continued. “Private companies or limited liability companies are not formed for certain periods. They exist for perpetuity […] Therefore you cannot create a company to reclaim land in Gulhifalhu or a company for a three-year project.”

Moreover, Yameen added, the proposed law would give legal discretion to the registrar of companies or an official appointed by the President to deny requests for company registration if it is believed to pose a threat to national security.

“However, under the existing laws in the Maldives, a court of law shall determine that national security is endangered,” he said. “It is not something a registrar, a single person, could decide.”

Granting such discretion to a single state official, including the power to dissolve companies if it is believed to be in the public interest, was “how things are done in uncivilised countries,” he said.

MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, former chairwoman of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), meanwhile argued that the concept of limited liability was “the means that advanced nations used to reach modern development.”

“Because we are unfamiliar with this concept what happens is that people are reluctant to invest their money in a business,” she explained, adding that the law would ensure that shareholders would be liable to the company’s debt only to the extent of their shareholding.

“Nothing positive”

Speaking to Minivan News today, MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom, deputy parliamentary group leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), said that the bill was framed to “give extra powers to the executive” and “open up the country to foreign businesses.”

Mausoom noted that there was an existing law that governed company formation and registration.

The DRP also objected to the government’s proposed amendments to the Immigration Act to grant resident visas to skilled expatriates as well as a bill to abolish existing foreign investment laws, Mausoom said.

“We voted against [the proposed company law] because we didn’t see anything positive in the bill,” he said.

Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razi told Minivan News that the proposed company law was important to “level the playing field” and streamline business registration procedures to “make them simpler and more cohesive.”

As parliament had rejected the bill at the preliminary stage, said Razi, the government could not submit the bill again during the ongoing session.

“But we will consult with the legal people and stakeholders to propose the bill as amendments to the existing Company Act for the next session,” he said.

While it would have been “ideal” to pass all the component bills of the reform package on schedule, Razi continued, yesterday’s vote did not constitute a serious setback to the reform programme.

“It will have an impact, yes, but it will not be a very negative impact,” he said.

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High Court denies request for injunction to halt GST implementation

The High Court today denied a request by the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) to grant a temporary injunction to halt the enactment of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act pending a court ruling on the constitutionality of contested provisions in the legislation.

Presiding Judge Abdul Gani Mohamed noted that the MNCCI filed the case late afternoon on Thursday, September 29, and that the GST law was in effect when the court reopened after the weekend. Following a preliminary hearing, the case was registered at the High Court on October 5.

If the court were to rule against MNCCI after granting a temporary injunction, the judge continued, it would not be possible to charge GST for goods sold in the intervening period.

Moreover, as article 65 of the Act states that the Tourism Goods and Service Tax (T-GST) Act would be repealed and replaced by the GST Act, the state would have to stop collecting T-GST from the tourism industry if the High Court issued the injunction.

Judge Abdul Gani said the claimant was unable to establish that irreversible damage would be caused to businesses if the injunction was not granted.

A majority of the five-judge panel therefore decided that there were no legal grounds to issue a temporary injunction to halt the enactment of the GST Act. In addition to Judge Abdul Gani, the panel consisted of Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef, Judge Dr Ezmiralda Zahir, Judge Abdul Raoof Ibrahim and Judge Abbas Shareef.

Legal challenge

At the first hearing of the case last week, lawyer Ali Hussein representing the Chamber of Commerce argued that article 51 of the GST Act – dealing with registration at the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) within a one-month period from the commencement of the Act – conflicted with articles 17 (non-discrimination) and 20 (equality before the law) of the constitution.

Ali Hussein contended that setting a threshold for registration – taxable supplies of the business over the course of 12 months must exceed Rf1 million – conflicted with the constitutional provision on “equal protection and equal benefit of the law.”

As a result of the threshold, said Ali Hussein, smaller shops would not charge GST while larger stores would do so for the same items.

The MNCCI therefore requested the High Court to strike down article 51 of the GST Act on the grounds that it was unconstitutional.

Moreover, it was argued that the one-month registration period provided in article 64 was too short and inadequate for businesses to prepare.

The third and last point of contention involved regulations drafted by MIRA under the Act not exempting semi-mature coconuts from GST despite different types of coconut being exempted under the Act.

Addressing the legal points raised by the MNCCI, State Attorney Moosa Alim referred to the concept of vertical equity in tax collection, whereby taxes paid increase with income.

Alim noted that article 17(b) of the constitution states that, “Special assistance or protection to disadvantaged individuals or groups, or to groups requiring special social assistance, as provided in law shall not be deemed to be discrimination.”

The length of the period for registration or glitches in implementation were not sufficient grounds to abolish the law, he said.

On the contention that the introduction of GST on top of custom duties amounted to double taxation, the state attorney submitted a list of 112 countries that charge import duties or tariffs in addition to Value Added Taxes (VATs).

MIRA’s Director General of Tax Planning Aiman Ibrahim explained that double taxation technically referred to the imposition of two or more taxes on the same income, property or financial transaction.

Businesses that paid GST on commodities purchased from wholesale traders or importers would have that amount deducted from their tax returns, he added.

Ali Hussein however contended that both import duties and the GST would be passed down to customers, who would be paying two taxes for the same item.

Asked by the Chief Judge whether a small business not eligible for GST registration could sell a taxable item without charging the tax, Aiman Ibrahim from MIRA replied yes.

Speaking on behalf of the MNCCI, the organisation’s Treasurer Ahmed Adheeb insisted that the Maldivian economy could not be compared to large economies such as Singapore or New Zealand.

“I know of nowhere in the world where GST has been implemented within a month,” he said, arguing that the cost of implementing the tax, in terms of monitoring and auditing tax returns, was prohibitive and outweighed the benefits.

Moreover, said Adheeb, there was no audit law in the Maldives and “only three licensed auditors.”

“We foresee serious problems that will eventually reach court as a result of [GST implementation],” he said.

In response, Aiman said there was “no connection between GST and audit licensing” as businesses would not be required to file audited reports for GST returns. “[The tax return] will be a single page document and MIRA will do the auditing,” he said.

Adjourning today’s hearing, Judge Abdul Gani observed that the legal points raised by were “very technical” in nature and offered both sides an opportunity to make a presentation on the technical issues involved in the case at the next court date.

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Opposition MPs object to provision for foreign judges on proposed mercantile court

Opposition MPs today strongly objected to a provision for foreign judges in a bill proposed by the government to establish a mercantile court with special jurisdiction to resolve disputes involving business transactions in the Maldives.

Under the proposed legislation, an experienced Muslim foreigner may be appointed among the seven-judge bench for the court, which will have jurisdiction to handle cases relating to transactions concerning tourism, construction, international business, insurance, civil aviation, maritime, shipping, leasing, banking and finance, securities, fishing, company disputes, partnership, professional liability and intellectual property rights.

The mercantile court will also handle contract, trade and service provision, consumer and service recipient protection in cases worth more than Rf15 million (US$1 million).

During today’s preliminary debate on the bill, opposition MPs raised concern that allowing a foreign judge to sit on a Maldivian court would threaten the country’s independence.

MP Ibrahim Muttalib, who recently rejoined the religious conservative Adhaalath Party, alleged that the bill was part of a government “plot to destroy and dis-empower the judiciary.”

“We should be alert to the government’s efforts to change this country’s constitutional system with the scheming of the Jews,” he said, adding that the bill was drafted “under this scheme” by Independent MP for Kulhudhufushi South Mohamed Nasheed, who served as Legal Reform Minister in the last years of the former government.

“If this court is established, in order to bring the judiciary into disrepute, within a few days of its formation there will be courts established in every inhabited island and existing courts will be made redundant,” he claimed.

Other opposition MPs contended that there were enough qualified professionals with the requisite experience in the Maldives.

“If there aren’t competent enough judges, they can be trained,” suggested MP Hassan Latheef.

Appointing foreign judges to a Maldivian court was “completely unacceptable,” said MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur, objecting to different criteria for Maldivian and foreign judges in the bill.

MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) acknowledged the need for the legislation but questioned the provision for two foreign judges.

Presenting the legislation on behalf of the government, MP Mohamed Musthafa of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) stressed the “urgent” importance of establishing international standards for dispute resolution in the Maldivian judiciary.

The lack of legal protection for foreign investors in the country was “the main challenge” to operating their businesses, Musthafa explained.

The provision to allow a foreign judge on the bench is to seek expert assistance from foreign judges to establish the court, Musthafa continued, which would have the same status or rank as a superior court.

The court would also have the authority to transfer cases from other courts that fall under its jurisdiction.

Investor confidence

The legislation comes in the wake of concerns aired by international organisations such as the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) that the existing Maldivian judiciary lacked the independence and capacity to rule in cases involving complex civil proceedings.

Speaking to Minivan News in March after several weeks observing the operation of the Maldives’ Judicial Services Commission (JSC), former Australian Supreme Court Justice Professor Murray Kellam said that an impartial judicial system was a key factor in encouraging foreign investment and could have a direct and significant impact on the economy.

This was something that Singapore recognised 15 years ago, he said.

“They understood the value of a civil system that is incorruptible and competent. They spent a lot of money on their judiciary and Transparency International now rates their civil legal system as one of the best in the world.

“Singapore realised that one of the best ways to attract investment was to have a system whereby international investors knew they would get a fair go in domestic courts. If you look at the circumstances in other parts of the world where investors have no confidence in the judiciary, that deters investment and takes it offshore. They’ll go somewhere else.

Citing Adam Smith, considered one of the founders of modern capitalism, Kellam observed that “Commerce and manufacturers can seldom flourish long in any state which does not enjoy a regular administration of justice, in which people do not feel themselves secure in possession of their property, in which the faith of contracts is not supported by law.”

As a foreign investor, Kellam said, “you want to know that contact you enter into with domestic partners will be understood and enforced by courts if there is a breach. You want courts to judge you impartially – you don’t want to be discriminated against because you are a foreigner.”

“Secondly, it’s no good getting judgement if no there is enforcement – which is a major factor in developing countries. Sure you can get a judgement, but it’s not worth the paper it’s written on because there is no process for getting it enforced, and you can’t turn judgements into anything productive.”

Singapore had recognised this, and become not only a hub for foreign investment but also a regional hub for commercial arbitration, Kellam said.

“People from around the region will use Singapore as a place of law and business,” Kellam observed.

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Fiscal deficit in 2011 expected to fall to single digit, says President

The government expects the fiscal deficit to have fallen to a single digit at the end of the year, below the previous forecast of 11 percent of GDP, President Mohamed Nasheed said in his weekly radio address on Friday.

“The budget deficit as a percentage of GDP or national productivity has been estimated for next year at [budget] meetings with ministers and heads of government offices,” he said. “From that estimate we know that government expenditure has been substantially reduced in a number of different areas. For this year, we forecast a budget deficit of 11 percent. We have noted now that it has been reduced by three or four points.”

The government hoped that the fiscal deficit would be below 10 or “a single digit figure” when it is calculated at the end of the year, he said.

The budget deficit, which stood at just 1.9 percent of the economy in 2004, expanded to 7.3 percent in 2006 and ballooned to 23.9 percent in 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The fiscal deficit exploded on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill between 2004 and 2009, with tremendous growth between 2007 and 2009. On paper, the government increased average salaries from Rf3000 to Rf11,000 and boosted the size of the civil service from 24,000 to 32,000 people – 11 percent of the total population of the country – doubling government spending from 35 percent of GDP to 60 percent from 2004 to 2006.

While preliminary figures had pegged the 2010 fiscal deficit at 17.75 percent, “financing information points to a deficit of around 20-21 percent of GDP”, down from 29 percent in 2009, the IMF noted in March this year.

“We see bringing the fiscal deficit down as the key macroeconomic priority for the Maldives,” the IMF’s Mission Chief to the Maldives, Rodrigo Cubero, told Minivan News at the time. “A large fiscal deficit pushes up interest rates, thereby undermining private investment and growth, and also drives up imports, putting pressure on the exchange rate and inflation, all of which hurts the Maldivian people, particularly the poor.”

“Further efforts are still needed to reduce the fiscal deficit. Those efforts should comprise further tax reforms as well as measures to reduce expenditure and to improve the channelling of social expenditures to the needy.”

Meanwhile in a booklet issued to media titled “the DRP’s response to the government’s economic nuisance package,” the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) strongly objected to a bill on fiscal responsibility currently before parliament.

The bill was “a plot” devised to wrest financial control from local councils and negate parliament’s contentious amendments to the Public Finance Act, the DRP argued.

The DRP also noted that provisions on imposing limits to government spending would only come into force after 2013.

“In the past three years, the MDP [Maldivian Democratic Party] government earned billions of rufiya by selling off state assets, facilitating business opportunities for their friends and introducing new taxes,” the DRP said. “Nonetheless, while the health sector, the education and overall standard of living has gone from bad to worse, it is unclear how the government spent the billions and billions of rufiya it received.”

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Government plans to sell Dhiraagu shares to foreigners, claims PPM

The government’s decision to offer 15 percent of its shareholdings in local telecom giant Dhiraagu for sale to the general public is intended to benefit foreign parties, the incipient Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) alleged today.

At a press conference this afternoon, PPM Spokesperson MP Ahmed Mahlouf claimed that the party has learned through “inside information” that the government planned to sell a large portion of the shares up for sale through the Initial Public Offering (IPO) to British company Cable & Wireless, which currently owns the majority stake of Dhiraagu.

The government sold seven percent of its shareholding in Dhiraagu to Cable & Wireless in 2009 for US$40 million.

“While claiming to sell 15 percent to Maldivian citizens what they’re doing now is selling shares to Cable & Wireless again,” Mahlouf said. “We received inside information long ago that a large part of that 15 percent is going to be bought by Cable & Wireless.”

The MP for Galolhu South expressed concern with the shares being open for purchase by both foreigners and international companies.

He added that the Maldivian people would have to face “the bitter consequences” of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government “selling off state assets built up by the former government through a lot of hard work.”

Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razi however dismissed the allegations as completely unfounded.

“Why would we register with the CMDA (capital market development authority) and go for an international public offering if we wanted to do that?” he asked. “We’ve already sold them the majority stake.”

If the government wished to sell shares to C&W, he added, there would be “no need of a charade.”

In a press release issued after a ceremony to launch the IPO this week, Dhiraagu stated that 11,400,000 ordinary shares having a nominal value of Rf2.50 each at the offer price of Rf80 per share would be made available to the public.

The subscription period will open on October 25 and close on November 30. Formed in 1988 as a joint venture between the government and Cable & Wireless, Dhiraagu has since invested US$155 million in developing its network and operations within the Maldives. The company employs more than 600 people, 99 per cent of whom are Maldivians.

President NasheedSpeaking at the IPO launching ceremony Tuesday night after releasing the Dhiraagu prospectus, President Mohamed Nasheed said the government’s aim was to divest its remaining 33 percent to the public at a later date.

The MDP government’s policy was to ensure that the government would no longer be involved in business, said Nasheed, reiterating the government’s commitment to free market principles and economic liberalisation.

“The government is very much certain that profits increase manifold when the government is not involved [in doing business],” he said. “This became most clear when the airport was privatised. Did you know that before [Indian infrastructure giant] GMR took over [management of] the airport, in the year that the government received the highest amount from the airport company to the state budget, it was Rf100 million (US$6.4 million). Usually it is Rf75 million (US$4.8 million). This year the government will receive Rf600 million (US$39 million).”

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Campaign against committee allowance violates privileges, say MPs

Parliament today debated a motion proposed by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed claiming that a civic action campaign against controversial Rf20,000-a-month committee allowances approved last year violated MPs’ special privileges.

Presenting the motion without notice, Riyaz Rasheed, the sole Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) representative in parliament, contended that the campaign by the group of concerned citizens was intended to bring MPs into disrepute and undermine MPs’ honour and dignity.

Riyaz said he proposed the motion in protest of the activities against the committee allowance because “no one has said anything while they’re putting up pictures of MPs all over Male’.”

A loose association of concerned citizens and members of local NGOs launched a campaign in late August after parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided to issue a lump sum of Rf140,000 (US$9,000) as committee allowance back pay for January through July this year.

“The chapter on rights and freedoms in the constitution guarantees right to [respect for] private and family life [article 24],” Riyaz continued. “Therefore no one could try to defame us. We have not betrayed the public. We have done things for the benefit of the people.”

Riyaz proposed that parliament should officially ask police to investigate the activists after the Privileges Committee reviews his motion.

After the motion was presented, MPs voted 16-3 with nine abstentions to open the floor for a debate.

Honour and dignity

Most MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties supported Riyaz’s motion, criticising the methods employed by the social activists, which they argued incited contempt towards MPs.

Several MPs claimed that they had not received any complaints or angry phone calls from constituents demanding that they refuse the allowance.

MPs also alleged that unsuccessful candidates for parliament were behind the campaign, which was motivated by “personal grudges” and a desire to diminish the standing of sitting MPs in a bid to defeat them in 2014.

Moreover, several MPs argued that unlike government ministers and judges, MPs did not have office space, staff or state vehicles.

While MP Ali Waheed characterised the campaign as “a military attack,” MP Ilham Ahmed criticised the activists for misleading the public into thinking that the “unborn allowance” had already been given.

Ilham alleged that activists in the campaign were “three or four kids that Ibra [President’s Advisor Ibrahim Ismail] sends out,” adding that “making my wife’s ID card number public” went beyond the right to free expression and protest.

Other opposition MPs criticised the NGOs for not launching similar campaigns or protests against the government’s contentious decisions, such as refusing to reimburse civil servants, floating the exchange rate or not handing over the state broadcaster to the parliament approved Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC).

“The main intention of the people who are protesting is to bring Majlis into disrepute among the public and violate privileges,” claimed Independent MP Ahmed Amir, backing Riyaz Rasheed’s proposal to investigate the campaign and take legal action.

MP Ahmed Rasheed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meanwhile revealed that the activists met him to discuss the allowance and he had declined to refuse it.

“I am saying very clearly, these people who have come out in the name of civil society organisations are working with the hope of contesting and winning a seat in the 2014 parliamentary election,” he claimed.

MP Ibrahim Muttalib, who recently signed for the Adhaalath Party, meanwhile said he had pledged to decline the allowance if the activists would agree to join him in protesting “on issues of national importance.”

Muttalib repeated claims by other MPs that former MP Ibrahim Ismail was orchestrating the campaign.

“I don’t believe that the constitution of this country was sent down in a revelation to the chairman of the drafting committee [Special Majlis MP Ibrahim Ismail] by the Vatican city,” said MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa, adding that he would decline the allowance only if President Mohamed Nasheed asked it of him, but the President had not done so to date.

MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, who recently signed for former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party, implied that Ibra lost the use of his legs as “a punishment from God.”

“He [Ibra] says I’m the one who drafted the constitution, tomorrow he might say I’m the one who drafted the holy Quran,” said Saleem.

MP Ahmed Mahlouf, who submitted a resolution to scrap the allowance in June, criticised the social activists for not defending or backing him at the time when he was accused of self-aggrandizement.

Freedom of expression

Only a few MPs, including MDP MPs Mariya Ahmed Didi, Imthiyaz Fahmy, Ilyas Labeeb, Eva Abdulla and Hamid Abdul Gafoor, spoke against the motion and disputed the notion that the civic action campaign violated MPs privileges.

Hamid proposed a comprehensive review by parliament of salaries and allowances for state employees, which was seconded by MP Mahlouf.

Mariya, former chairwoman of the MDP, said it was “regrettable” that criticism of MPs had prompted a motion claiming violation of parliament’s privilege.

Prior to the parliamentary election, said Mariya, her constituents had complained that the Rf62,500 monthly salary for MPs was too high.

“So I definitely accept that the people will criticise us taking an additional Rf20,000,” she said. “So when the people talk about it on the media, and even if they draw our cartoons, we have to accept it since we come here to advocate on their behalf and we live in the public eye.”

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