Author: Ahmed Naish

Salaf calls on government to offer military training to citizens “before Jews take over the country”

Religious NGO Jamiyyathusalaf has called on the government to “provide military training to all Muslim Maldivians and familiarise citizens with the use of modern weaponry” before “Jews take over the country”, days before a controversial visit by a team of Isreali surgeons to offer free-of-charge eye camps in Male’, Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo and Addu Atoll Hithadhoo.

A statement on Salaf’s website claims that “Maldivians would not accept under any circumstances extremist Jewish organisations from Israel, which ignores UN resolutions in brutalising Muslims, exerting influence in the Maldives.”

Following the announcement of the eye camp last month, the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives called on the government to “shun all medical aid from the Zionist regime” and not to normalise relations with Israel.

The Foundation claimed that Maldivians should be wary of the eye surgeons as Isreali medical teams “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

Political Counsellor at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, Itay Tagner, dismissed the claims as “outrageous and ridiculous” with “not one gram of truth to it.”

The religious conservation Adaalath party, coalition partner of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) which controls the Islamic Ministry, meanwhile issued a press release yesterday claiming that it has learned “from reliable sources” that the camp is funded by the American-Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

“Doctors who are coming for this eye camp are from a Zionist organisation called ‘Eyes from Zion’,” reads the Adhaalath statement. “Don’t think that these are doctors from a normal hospital! We have learned that a group from the Israeli Foreign Ministry will be coming with them.”

It adds that while the party has welcomed medical teams from countries such as Germany, America and India in the past, the Israeli delegation was a different matter.

“Allegations that the Maldivian government has secret ties with the Israeli government is something Maldivian citizens should be concerned about today,” it continues. “What is the truth about claims that some senior government officials made secret trips to Israel via Jordan?”

Adhaalath further claims that the Isreali government gifted a floating ambulance to the Maldives in June this year but was not made public by the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

The statement adds that “Zionists wishing to freely assist a 100 percent Muslim country defies logic” since it is “as clear as the afternoon sun that Jews would not wish well for Muslims”, cautioning that help from Israel would only come with “a hidden agenda”.

“Today it’s a team of doctors. Tomorrow it will be Israeli flights. Then will follow Israeli teachers, technicians and advisors,” it reads, adding that Adhaalath has voiced concern with the government’s efforts “to dim the role of Islamic studies” ever since it began pursuing relations with the Jewish state.

The party claims that the government’s plans to make Islam an optional subject in higher secondary education and allegedly remove reservations it holds to international conventions “could no longer be seen as coincidences.”

The party cautions citizens to be wary of Jews infiltrating the Maldives and “be watchful of agents that facilitate their plans”.

However, Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari told Minivan News today that the ministry has neither raised concerns with the government nor urged the authorities not to go ahead with the camp.

Bari insisted that the Adhaalath press release did not reflect the views of the Islamic Ministry.

Some 739 people in Male’ and 879 in Addu and Fuvahmulah have registered for treatment at the eye camp on December 9.

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Israeli eye surgeons visiting Maldives to “illegally harvest organs”, claims Islamic Foundation

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has reiterated calls to the Maldives government to “shun all medical aid from the Zionist regime” with a team of seven Israeli eye surgeons due to arrive in the country next month, claiming that Isreali doctors and surgeons “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

An article on the Foundation’s website titled “Beware of Israeli eye surgeons” claims Israeli medical teams have harvested organs from dead Haitians after the devastating earthquake that struck country as well as from Palestinians killed in fighting in the longstanding Arab-Isreali conflict.

“The health authorities in Maldives have to take utmost caution in allowing Israeli medical surgeons into this country and Maldivians who apply for treatment from these doctors have to take precautionary measures to avoid any foul play,” it reads.

A day after the government-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) announced the imminent arrival of the Israeli doctors, the Islamic Foundation called on the government not to normalise relations with the Jewish state or “accept any sort of assistance from Israel as long as they are in the lands of Palestine.”

President of Islamic Foundation Ibrahim Fauzy told Minivan News last week that the Foundation does not recognise Israel as a state, asserting that “it is also against our religion to have relationships with Jews.”

IGMH has meanwhile invited interested patients to register before December 2 for a screening process before treatment.

In November last year, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed narrowly survived a vote of no-confidence forwarded by the opposition for his role in the government’s plans to normalise relations with Israel.

Dr Shaheed has stressed that the government has not signed an agreement to establish diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Humanitarian mission

Speaking to Minivan News today, Political Counsellor at the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, Itay Tagner, stressed that the delegation was coming to the Maldives “on a purely humanitarian mission”.

“Top eye doctors from Israel are coming voluntarily with the full cooperation of the government, the Health Ministry and the Disaster Management Centre,” he said, adding that the delegation will operate “under guidance of the relevant authorities.”

The team of surgeons will conduct eye camps in Male’, Gaaf Dhaal Thinadhoo and Addu Atoll Gan “for free, for no cost”, Tagner explained, and will bring surgical equipment, including a mobile surgery unit.

He dismissed the claims by the Islamic Foundation as “ridiculous and outrageous” with “not one gram of truth to it”.

“They are just trying to spread hatred,” he said. “This is a beautiful partnership between two peoples. It is nothing political. It’s just doctors from one country coming to another to build bridges between people.”

Tagner argued that Isreal “has no problem with Islam”, pointing out that 20 percent of its population were Muslims “who enjoy full rights as citizens”.

Asked if the Embassy was concerned about opposition from some segments of society, Tagner said that “the camps will be taking place with the full cooperation, assistance and sponsorship of the Maldivian government,” he said.

“It has been coordinated for a long time. I have been to the Maldives recently and I saw nothing but preparations. Everybody was very excited.”

He added that a 10 to 15 minute procedure performed by the eye surgeon could restore eyesight to the blind: “Once you see a person come out after 15 minutes and his whole life has changed, that picture is worth more than ten thousand words.”

“A doorway for Jews”

Addressing supporters at a rally Thursday night, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Afrashim Ali claimed that Israelis and other foreign elements that “should not be allowed to enter a 100 percent Muslim country” will gain a foothold in the Maldives as a result of handing over management of the Male’ International Airport to Indian infrastructure giant GMR.

“[The airport deal with GMR] will open a big doorway for the people of Israel, who are brutalising Palestinians without any justification, to come to the Maldives and take over,” he said.

The leader of DRP’s religious wing asserted that it is “expressly forbidden” to give any assistance to Israel as “they forced Palestinians out of their homes and brutalised them only because they say ‘We are Muslims’.”

He added that “the loss of this airport from Muslim hands” would open “a huge door to help those who deliberately, antagonistically torture Muslims.”

Warning of the consequence of foreigners exerting influence on domestic affairs, Dr Afrashim said that “when foreign kings and businessmen and company heads get a foothold in a small country like the Maldives, the result will be that they will never leave.”

He added that the second step of the foreign invasion would be to “sow discord” and ferment chaos “to destroy the country”.

To back his assertion, Afrashim quoted from the Quran 27:34: “She said: ‘Verily! Kings, when they enter a town (country), they despoil it, and make the most honourable amongst its people low. And thus they do.’”

“They will destroy Islam in the Maldives,” he warned.

Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference today, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed said that the Maldivian government and people wished to declare its “support and cooperation” to the Palestinian people on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinians.

“The Maldives is a country that has always been with the Palestinian people,” he said. “We have always called for the freedom of the Palestinian people and advocated for their rights.”

Moreover, the government was trying to establish stronger ties with Palestine, said Shaheed, noting that President Mohamed Nasheed has had phone conversations with Palestinian leaders and had appointed an ambassador to Palestine.

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Umar Naseer vows to take legal action against “government and opposition figures who took bribes from GMR”

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader Umar Naseer vowed to take legal action against “government officials and opposition figures who accepted bribes from [Indian infrastructure giant] GMR”, following allegations that surfaced on the Dhivehi Post website last week.

Speaking at a joint opposition rally on Thursday night at artificial beach, Naseer told opposition supporters that “those in the government and those among us who took bribes” would receive “just punishment” we will give just punishment.”

That morning the GMR-Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB) consortium took over management of Male’ International Airport.

Naseer’s claims comes a week after local media republished allegations that surfaced in an anti-government tabloid website claiming that DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid each accepted a bribe of US$1 million from GMR.

Both Thasmeen and Shahid, neither of whom attended Thursday night’s rally, have strongly denied the allegations.

“These allegations originated in an internet site called the Dhivehi Post,” Thasmeen told Minivan News last week. “If you go through it you can make a reasonable guess as to who they support.”

The website today published what it claims to be copies of ticket reservations Shahid and Thasmeen made to travel to India via Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Dhivehi Post claims that the two spent 55 minutes in transit at the Delhi airport on October 30 and returned to the Maldives the same day after meeting GMR officials at the VIP lounge.

Meanwhile, at a party rally in Kaafu Atoll Maafushi last night, DRP Deputy Leaders Ali Waheed and Ibrahim “Mavota” Shareef moved to defend the party leaders, condemning efforts by senior members to “divide the party”.

In an apparent rebuke to the party’s other Deputy Leaders Umar Naseer and Ilham Ahmed, Ali Waheed said that disagreements within the leadership did not mean DRP members should “hold rallies with other presidential candidates”.

“Given the state of the country today, the biggest betrayal to the nation and the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party would be to split up this party,” he said.

Defending the DRP Leader from the bribery allegations, Shareef pointed out that “if Thasmeen wanted US$1 million, he would not have had to take an indebted party onto his shoulders.”

In July, four opposition parties in parliament – DRP, People’s Alliance (PA), Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and Jumhooree Party – signed an agreement to form a united opposition front against the airport privatisation deal.

Speaking to Minivan News last week, Managing Director of GMR Male International Airport Limited P Sripathy described the allegations of bribery as “totally false and baseless, and very disappointing and damaging to our reputation. We have never met any members of the opposition to date.”

“The GMR Group is in Male’ on serious business – to build a world class, benchmark airport that people of Male’ and the Group will be very proud of,” he added.

“Economic enslavement”

Addressing supporters at the sparsely attended rally on Thursday night, PA Leader Abdulla Yameen asserted that “auctioning off the airport below price” would bring no economic benefits to citizens.

Referring to the November 3 coup attempt in 1988, Yameen said that the Maldivian people were now experiencing “a second enslavement” in the month of November as handing over airport management to GMR amounted to “economic enslavement”.

Yameen contended that foreign parties were not needed to develop the airport as it made annual profits exceeding Rf200 million (US$15.5 million) and that it did not make “economic sense” to lease a state asset during difficult economic times.

“We built the airport at a time when we spent less than Rf50 million a year from our budget,” he said. “We should be ashamed today.”

He added that local businesses “could easily develop” new duty free shops, and that “it won’t take more than Rf2 or Rf3 million” to build a new terminal.

While building a new runway and alternative landing strip would have been “challenging”, he conceded, “replacing concrete walls of the terminal with glass” does not amount to modernising the airport.

Yameen pledged to take back the airport by moving legislation through parliament to declare “legal status” for the airport.

Other opposition figures who spoke at the rally launched vitriolic attacks on the government, lamenting the loss of “an airport built with the blood and sweat of the Maldivian people”.

Most speakers at the rally alleged corruption in the airport and accused the government of “selling off state assets one by one”.

While DRP MP Ali Arif said that President Mohamed Nasheed “deserves every obscene word in the Dhivehi language,” MP Ahmed Mahlouf alleged that “GMR gave large amounts of money in bribes to the MDP campaign” to secure the deal.

The government has meanwhile flatly denied accusations of any wrongdoing, pointing out that the transaction was overseen by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financial arm of the World Bank.

Moreover, the government has alleged that opposition to the airport deal stems from the “vested interests” of certain MPs, several of whom it arrested following the resignation of cabinet on June 29 in protest against the “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament.

The fuel trade is the most immediately lucrative part of the airport deal, Minivan News understands, and is a key reason behind both GMR’s interest and the government’s decision to award the contract to the Indian infrastructure giant. GMR has told Minivan News it will amalgamate the trade under one umbrella, a decision that will likely affect current third party suppliers.

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“1 in 3” campaign launched to break domestic violence taboo

A nationwide campaign against domestic violence dubbed “1 in 3” was launched Thursday by the Maldivian Network on Violence Against Women, a loose coalition of NGOs and individuals who came together to advocate for pioneering legislation on domestic violence (DV) currently before parliament.

The campaign title reflects the findings of a milestone 2007 study on Women’s Health and Life Experiences, which found that 1 in 3 women aged 15 to 49 experience either physical or sexual violence at some point in their lives, including childhood sexual abuse.

While a draft for domestic violence legislation had existed for several years, the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP’s) women’s wing announced the development of a bill to be submitted to parliament earlier this year.

The announcement was welcomed by President Mohamed Nasheed, who argued that a bipartisan effort to pass the legislation was more likely to succeed.

The DV bill, supported and facilitated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), aims to “make DV illegal, to prevent DV from occurring in our society, to provide justice to survivors of domestic violence and abuse as well as to ensure state responsibility in providing services to address DV-related crimes in society,” reads a press statement by the NGO Network.

The network was formed in October when a group of 30 advocates came together in Bandos to plan support for the bill.

On November 22, the bill was accepted by MPs and sent to committee for further review.

Taboo

In her keynote speech at the campaign launch, former DRP MP Aneesa Ahmed surveyed the history of government efforts against domestic violence.

As recently as the turn of the century, said Aneesa, domestic violence was a taboo subject in Maldivian society.

“It was not spoken about,” she said. “[People] didn’t want to speak about it. Perhaps because of the immensity of the problem, nobody wanted to talk about it; or because nobody wanted to believe how much it had spread in our society.”

She added that the hesitancy to openly acknowledge the problem was probably borne “out of fear.”

The former Women’s Minister revealed that a pilot survey planned by an NGO with support from the government was scuttled when it encountered resistance from societal attitudes, which held that the government should not “enter into family matters.”

“So we couldn’t carry out that survey,” she said. “The NGO I mentioned was very disappointed and we were very disappointed, but we did not give up.”

While the former government then attempted to foster public dialogue through workshops aimed at different groups of society, Aneesa said that she was “very encouraged” to see a campaign launched by a network of NGOs with high youth participation.

A video testimonial of a DV victim was also presented at the function, featuring a harrowing story of a woman who came to Male’ seeking a divorce but was refused by the judge who counseled reconciliation with her abusive spouse.

“I thought how am I going to make peace?” she asked. “I am finding it hard to endure. They didn’t consider in the least the abuse I was getting.”

The testimonial ended with a plea to MPs “to save women from abusive husbands.”

“A beginning”

Aneesa said that while the passage of the DV bill, with recommendations from the NGO network, would be “a beginning” to tackling gender based violence, she cautioned that the campaign “will not be easy” as the small size of close-knit communities “could be an impediment.”

However, she urged the NGO network and its affiliated advocates not to become discouraged and to continue their efforts.

Aneesa is a founding member of the ‘Hope for Women’ NGO which aims to “eradicate sexual violence against women and girls.”

President Nasheed meanwhile dedicated his weekly radio address yesterday to the subject of domestic violence, noting that “some women don’t even speak about it with their closest friends and family members” and consequently do not report abuse to the authorities.

Men taking advantage of physical superiority to abuse or subjugate women “amounts to the rule of the jungle,” he said.

As women make up half the country’s population, said Nasheed, greater participation of women in the workforce and in national affairs was crucial to ensure economic development and progress.

He added that sexual harassment in the workplace, “even subtle forms of harassment that we may otherwise think are trivial, should be deplored,” adding that “such things should never happen in the workplace.”

President Nasheed expressed gratitude for members of the DRP involved in the drafting of the legislation and pledged the government’s full support for the bill.

Upward trend

Statistics from the Family Protection Unit (FPU) reveal that since 2006 the unit has attended to an average of 145 patients per year – 87 per cent of whom were women – with a noticeable upward trend in the number of cases reported each month.

While sexual abuse was the most common form of abuse suffered by FPU patients, in 83 per cent of cases the perpetrator was a friend or family member, and was known to the victim.

Half of abuse victims reported that the perpetrator was a boyfriend or husband.

The “1 in 3” campaign – launched to coincide with the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, the beginning of the annual global event supported by the UN: ’16 Days of Activism Against Violence’ – aims to raise awareness of the issue through a sustained media campaign over the next two weeks.

At the ceremony on Thursday, which was attended by Health Minister Aminath Jameel and UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox, the campaign was officially launched by Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Lieutenant Colonel Hamid Shafeeq with the unveiling of the campaign song “Geveshi Hiyaa”.

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Velezinee proposes motion to ‘confirm sanity’ of JSC Chairman

President Mohamed Nasheed’s member on the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Aishath Velezinee, proposed a motion without notice at today’s JSC meeting “to determine if Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, current Chairman of the commission, meets the criteria of possessing a sound mind as required by article 139(c) clause three of the constitution.”

The meeting was cancelled when quorum was lost after Velezinee walked out in protest of the Chair’s alleged refusal to acknowledge the motion.

Velezinee’s motion states that Justice Adam Mohamed was exhibiting “symptoms of a person who has lost his mind” and proposed suspending him from the duties of a judge “until a psychiatric evaluation is conducted under state supervision.”

Attached to the motion was a document titled ‘The Serial Bully‘, drawn from the UK-based workplace bullying website detailing the symptoms of “sociopaths and psychopaths”.

Qualities on the list included “self-opinionated, emotionally retarded, deceptive, superior sense of entitlement and untouchability, financially untrustworthy, overbearing belief in their qualities of leadership, is spiritually dead although may loudly profess some religious belief or affiliation” and “may pursue a vindictive vendetta against anyone who dares to held them accountable.”

Velezinee claimed that the Chair was “systematically evading” the matter of appointing an interview panel to approve judges to the High Court bench, almost two months after the deadline for applications elapsed.

Moreover, as the JSC was yet to adopt a standard operating procedure – the deadline for which passed on January 26 – commission meetings were “under the will and whim of the Chair who refuses to permit the Secretary General to perform independently and exercise absolute control over the working of the Commission.

“As it is JSC can only discuss and decide what the Chair permits, and that, it has become increasingly evident, is nothing,” she said.

While the High Court bench currently has four judges, a three-judge bench is needed to conduct hearings.

Sincerity

Following the cancelled meeting, Ahmed Rasheed, representative of the law community on the JSC, expressed concern with the slow pace of the commission’s functioning.

Rasheed said that the growing backlog of pending tasks “raises questions about the sincerity of some members.”

On November 9, Rasheed joined Velezinee, General Public Member Shuaib Abdul Rahman and Attorney General Dr Ahmed Sawad to lodge letters of protest with the JSC after the Chair did not attend a meeting he had called.

Other members of the commission, Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid, MP Afrashim Ali, Civil Service Commission President Mohamed Fahmy Hassan and Judge Abdulla Didi, did not attend the meeting as well.

Velezinee also walked out of the meeting last Sunday, the first one after the 10-day public holiday, claiming the Chair refused to let her speak on the High Court appointments as it was not on the agenda.

Responding to the criticism of his handling of JSC meetings, Justice Adam Mohamed told Minivan News today that he did not refuse to table Velezinee’s motion.

“I saw the motion when I came to the meeting,” he said. “But when I started the meeting and tried to read out the agenda, she interrupted me, got angry and walked off.”

Justice Adam Mohamed also dismissed accusations that he was holding up JSC tasks, explaining that he has called for a number of meetings in past weeks in excess of the legal requirement of one meeting per month.

On the delay to the standard operating procedure and High Court appointments, the Supreme Court Justice said that the deadlines had elapsed when he assumed the chair in late August.

“If they are so concerned about it, they could have passed it since they have been on the commission for all that time,” he said.

Following the end of the interim period in early August, a new Supreme Court bench was hastily instituted by parliament, resulting in a hiatus for the commission until new members along with a new Chair could be appointed.

Justice Adam Mohamed revealed that the current agenda for JSC meetings was “two-pages long”, stressing that while he has authority to order items, “members have the discretion to prioritize an item if everyone wished.”

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Afrashim Ali meanwhile arrived at today’s meeting 20 minutes after it began and left shortly afterward.

Asked for a comment on the issues, Dr Afrashim explained that he only grants interview “if it is going to be shown live on TV”.

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Parliament only approves 5 out of 12 ministerial appointees

After three weeks of stalemate, parliament today voted to approve five out of a dozen cabinet ministers reappointed by President Mohamed Nasheed in July, while MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) boycotted the sitting before voting began.

Seven ministers – Finance Minister Ali Hashim, Education Minister Dr Musthafa Luthfy, Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed, Fisheries Minister Dr Ibrahim Didi, Home Minister Mohamed Shihab, Defence Minister Ameen Faisal and Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad – did not receive a majority of votes from the 42 MPs in attendance.

The five ministers who won approval were Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam, Health Minister Aminath Jameel, Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari, Human Resources Minister Dr Hassan Latheef and Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News today that the cabinet will remain in place as “the only way to remove a minister is with 39 votes” through a no-confidence motion, pointing out that none of the seven nominees who failed to win consent received 39 votes against.

“No consent does not amount to no-confidence,” he explained, adding that today’s votes showed that “overall the Majlis has confidence in the cabinet.”

Zuhair said that the opposition parties failure to secure 39 votes “demonstrates splits” in their ranks.

The cabinet resigned en masse in June protesting the “scorched-earth policies” of parliament, accusing the opposition majority of corrupt practices, deliberate obstruction and attempts to wrest executive control from the government.

Aftermath

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, “Reeko” Moosa Manik, MDP parliamentary group leader revealed that he “asked the parliamentary group to remain silent even if the Speaker acts in violation of the rules and to leave the Majlis and step aside.”

Feydhoo MP Alhan Fahmy argued that after the Supreme Court ruled that article 171(e), which allows nominees to be interviewed by committee, could not be applied “the whole process has to be undone” since the invalidated provision was in place when the nominees were reviewed by the government oversight committee.

Appointing cabinet members was a “fundamental power” of the president under the constitution, said Alhan, adding that parliament had to pass no-confidence motions to dismiss the ministers who did not receive parliamentary consent.

“What we saw today in the Maldives parliament was a decision made in absence of the ruling party by the opposition party on their own,” he said. “I note that by this decision, instead of helping the administration govern, they have deliberately obstructed the government.”

Alhan condemned the opposition for “acting dictatorially” by “using parliamentary power irresponsibly” to dismiss ministers the DRP were unhappy with.

“I wonder if the DRP can give any justification as to why they did not give consent to [Attorney General] Dr Sawad,” he said. “For example, they can say something about not approving the Home Minister by talking about the police and what’s happening on the street. But why would they not give consent to Dr Sawad?”

Meanwhile, DRP MP for Galolhu South Ahmed Mahlouf dismissed the government’s as “the talk of madmen.”

Mahlouf argued that 39 votes were not needed to remove a minister as the constitution specifies that consent must be given by “MPs present and voting.”

“We voted for the people we believe are competent,” he said. “I do not believe the rest of them are ministers anymore. They should immediately give up their official cars and other state assets and they should not go to work tomorrow.”

While the MDP MPs maintain that Finance Minister Ali Hashim would still present the 2011 budget, Mahlouf claimed that he “certainly would not allow Ali Hashim to enter the Majlis.”

He further insisted that DRP’s voting reflected the will of the public and not personal prejudice: “[Defence Minister] Ameen Faisal was involved in the November 3rd coup and we tabled a no-confidence motion against [Education Minister] Luthfy when the cabinet resigned and Ali Hashim has sold our airport.”

He added that the opposition voted to approve ministers they believed were “competent and performing”, such as Housing Minister Mohamed Aslam and Islamic Minister Dr Bari.

“For example, we voted for Dr Bari because we believe that if we didn’t the President might appoint somebody like [Aishath] Velezinee (President’s member on the Judicial Services Commission) as Islamic Minister. We didn’t want to take that risk.”

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Bangladeshi killed in street mugging

A 30 year-old Bangladeshi man was killed this morning in Maafanu Carnation Magu in Male’ after being stabbed in the chest during what is thought to have been an attempted mugging.

According to police, the incident took place at about 7am and the man died shortly afterward while undergoing treatment at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

No arrests have been in connection to the case yet, a police media official said.

Residents of the area told Minivan News that two men attempted to the rob the Bangladeshi of his backpack and Nokia mobile phone and he was stabbed when he fought back.

“People from the neighbourhood came out when they heard him screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’,” a woman who wished to remain anonymous recounted. “There was blood on the middle of the road and his insides had spilled out.”

She claimed that while police arrived on the scene promptly, it was only 30 minutes later that the victim was taken to the hospital.

But, a police media official denied the accusation, claiming that “police went to the scene and did the necessary checks and he was taken to the hospital as quickly as possible; it can’t have been 30 minutes.”

None of the residents who witnessed the aftermath saw the assailants.

A Bangladeshi in the area claimed that the victim was on his way to work after having breakfast when he was attacked by ‘parteys’ (drug addicts).

“A few days ago, two of them stole my phone when I was in front of the house,” he said. “It is not safe for us here anymore.”

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DRP Leader, Parliament Speaker dismiss bribery allegations

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid – also a DRP MP – have dismissed allegations republished in local media that they each accepted bribes of US$1 million from Indian infrastructure giant GMR to stall parliament sittings until the GMR-Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) consortium took over management of Male’ International Airport.

Parliament Majority Leader Thasmeen dismissed the rumours as “a total fabrication” linked to opposing political agendas while Speaker Shahid said he had “never met [GMR officials] and never been offered anything.”

“These allegations originated in an internet site called the Dhivehi Post,” Thasmeen told Minivan News today. “If you go through it you can make a reasonable guess as to who they support.”

He added that the party’s opposition to the GMR airport deal had not changed as DRP signed an agreement with four opposition parties in parliament to oppose the leasing of the international airport.

Managing Director of GMR Male International Airport Limited P Sripathy described the claims as “totally false and baseless, and very disappointing and damaging to our reputation. We have never met any members of the opposition to date.”

“The GMR Group is in Male’ on serious business – to build a world class, benchmark airport that people of Male’ and the Group will be very proud of,” he added.

The rumours of the senior DRP officias  accepting bribes from GMR surfaced in the Dhivehi Post blog earlier this month, a website that routinely refers to President Mohamed Nasheed as “bipolar” and “ganjabo” (marijuana smoker).

The DRP, DQP, JP and PA formed an opposition coalition in June to protest against the airport deal, on nationalistic grounds. Deputy Leader of the DRP Umar Naseer told Minivan News on June 28 that ” if [the operators] allowed it, an Israel flight can come and stop over after bombing Arab countries.”

The government has alleged that opposition to the airport deal stems from the “vested interests” of certain MPs, several of whom it arrested following the resignation of cabinet on June 29 in protest against the “scorched earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament.

The fuel trade is the most immediately lucrative part of the airport deal, Minivan News understands, and is a key reason behind both GMR’s interest and the government’s decision to award the contract to the Indian infrastructure giant. GMR has told Minivan News it will amalgamate the trade under one umbrella, a decision that will likely affect current third party suppliers.

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Majlis impasse may obstruct passing of 2011 Budget

The 2011 State Budget to be deliberated by parliament next week will target more funds for island development, provide soft loans for small business and encourage private sector job growth, President Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday in his weekly radio address.

A shift from line-item to programme budgeting makes next year’s budget “very different from previous years” as it will direct more resources to islands for managing development programmes.

The budget for individual islands “will be much higher than it was in the past”, Nasheed explained, as the government anticipated “the work of ministries will be reduced and especially, when atoll councils and island councils start functioning, the government believes it will have, that it should have, responsibilities to carry out.”

While the budget includes a programme to offer government guarantees on soft loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, he added, economic policies will aim to spur job growth by strengthening the private sector.

“For example, the transport network – 300 new jobs have been created within that system,” he said, reiterating the government’s policy of pursuing public-private partnerships.

Moreover, the Human Resources Ministry is currently compiling a national employment registry to track monthly rates of job losses and employment gains, he revealed.

Gridlock

As the final sittings of the year are set to resume on Monday, parliament remains at loggerheads with the executive over the endorsement of cabinet members, with forced cancellations paralysing the legislature for the past three weeks.

While the opposition majority insist that ministers must be approved individually, MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) favour a ‘block vote’ for all ministers and moreover argue that the issue must be removed from the agenda until parliamentary rules of procedure is amended in light of the landmark Supreme Court ruling last month.

The Supreme Court ruled that while article 171(i) of the parliament’s rules of procedure, which allows nominees to be questioned by committee, does not contradict with constitution, it cannot be used in endorsing cabinet ministers.

Addressing supporters during a campaign rally last week, opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali said that although the party engaged in official talks with the government and international mediators “in the end after three months when there is still no way to hold ministers accountable, and when these ministers do as they please, the result ultimately is adverse effect on the lives of the Maldivian people.”

Writing in his website in September, the parliament majority leader argued that parliament was “unable to effectively provide the checks and balances necessary for the system to work democratically” and exercise oversight powers with the cabinet awaiting parliamentary consent.

Thasmeen further claimed that “failure of government officials to appear before the parliament is part of a series of deliberate acts by the government to pave way for autocratic rule,” adding that the opposition “should seriously consider taking legal action against government officials who ignore requests to appear before the parliament.”

The cabinet was reappointed by President Nasheed in July after resigning en masse in protest of the “scorched-earth policies” of the opposition, which it accused of obstruction and attempting to wrest executive control from the government.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News today that “no MP would obstruct the passing of the budget, but they should advocate on behalf of their constituencies.”

Nihan said that the party would seek to “make adjustments and change some components” as with the 2010 budget, claiming that opposition MPs’ constituencies were neglected by the government.

He further criticised the government for revenue shortfalls due to “failed projects such as privatising IGMH (Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital) and not collecting the full amount for the sale of Dhiraagu shares”.

While he expressed confidence that MPs would “fulfill their constitutional responsibility to pass the budget and ensure that services are provided to the people”, Nihan backed the DRP Leader’s stance on resolving the cabinet issue as the first priority.

“According to the constitution, the Finance Minister has to submit the budget,” he explained. “But we don’t believe there is a Finance Minister right now. What [Thasmeen] is saying is how can we go forward without resolving this. So let’s finish this first.”

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