Author: JJ Robinson

Democracy not the Maldives’ only game in town: Himal

Two years after the current Maldivian government assumed power, democracy most certainly has not become ‘the only game in town’, writes Azra Naseem for Himal magazine.

“Ample evidence has emerged during this short period that other currencies of power, deeply embedded in socio-cultural norms formed over centuries of varying types of authoritarian governance, are still very much in circulation in the country. These forms of power most clearly and commonly manifest as clientelism and patriomonialism, where power is exercised through informal networks based on political favours, connections between friends, family and a clique of elite individuals and groups. Such networks of informal power exist in perpetual tension with the official institutions of democracy. In the Maldives, they have created an atmosphere that discourages popular participation, makes a mockery of the rule of law, renders problematic the delivery of public services, discourages both domestic and foreign investment, and is highly conducive to corruption, rent-seeking and other forms of abuse.

“Three months into 2010, the Majlis passed a no-confidence motion against the then-auditor general, Ibrahim Naeem, over allegations of corruption. Naeem was at the time involved in high-profile investigations of members of the former regime for alleged embezzlement of millions of (US) dollars from state funds. The charges, for which the Majlis eventually removed Naeem from office, accused him of using a state credit card to buy a tie and charter a boat for a domestic trip. All MPs from the ruling Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) voted against the motion, but former President Gayoom’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) holds the Majlis majority, with the People’s Alliance, led by Gayoom’s brother, MP Abdulla Yameen. Several MDP MPs alleged the accusations against Naeem were politically motivated, but without a Majlis majority, failed to prevent Naeem’s removal from office. With Naeem gone, the cases he was investigating disappeared from the public domain.

“Both the law community and the media have been notably lax in taking issue with the lack of an independent judiciary. This silence exposes the most inexplicable features of the Maldives’ new democracy; it is also one of its most dangerous. The Maldivian media is an interesting beast, the make-up and characters of which is yet to be analysed in any depth despite the explosion in media outlets and output with the transition to democracy. It was only recently, in February this year, that the Maldives Media Council, established in May 2010, got around to adopting a code of ethics for the country’s media professionals. Prior to this, only the state-owned broadcaster, MNBC, possessed a written code of ethics, and that was only published in mid-2010.

“Very interesting in the context of media-judiciary relations is a provision in the Media Council’s Code of Ethics banning the media from publishing any material that contradicts or questions the findings of an official investigative body or the ruling of a court. Only legal or professional experts or academic analysts are allowed to publish such commentary, according to the Code. This raises two possibilities: the Maldivian Media Council does not regard local journalists as professionals with the ability to critique or question a court ruling; or two, it regards court rulings as beyond scrutiny.

Full story

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Mahlouf resubmits resolution cutting Rf20K committee allowance, after MDP forces Mariya to withdraw it

MDP MP and Party Chairperson Maryia Ahmed Didi today withdrew a resolution to cut the controversial Rf20,000 (US$1550) committee allowance from the MP Privileges Bill.

Mariya told Minivan News today that she withdrew the resolution following a vote by the MDP Parliamentary Group.

“I was not at that meeting,” she said, “but I bowed to the party’s rules and took it out. However I told parliament that I did not want the Rf20,000 committee allowance myself and urged group members not to take the committee allowance. That got a good reaction from quite a few MPs.”

Mariya acknowledged that there was strong public sentiment against MPs receiving the committee allowance, including among the party’s own member base, which on top of their Rf 62,500 (US$4860) salaries would place Maldivian MP income on par with that of Sweden.

“The Rf 20,000 committee allowance was in the small print of a report from the monetary committee on the salary of all institutions,” Mariya noted.

Leader of MDP Parliamentary Group ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik was not responding to calls at time of press.

Following Mariya’s withdrawal of the resolution opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf resubmitted it.

“I was the first one to raise it before Mariya, but the Speaker [DRP MP] Abdulla Shahid went with Mariya’s changes, perhaps because of the factional fight [the opposition] is having. When Mariya withdrew it today I resubmitted it.”

Mahlouf’s submission means the resolution will go to committee stage which will debate the matter before submitting it to the floor for a vote.

Increasing MP salaries by Rf 20,000 would be a huge blow to parliament’s credibility, Mahlouf said, “as the public do not believe we are working to their expectations.”

He said he believed Mariya had been pressured by the MDP Parliamentary Group to withdraw the resolution.

“I decided this by myself. Nobody pressures me any more because I don’t follow DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen in parliament,” said Mahlouf, who has sided with the party’s dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer and its Honorary Leader, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, against Thasmeen’s faction.

The core issue regarding the salary increase, he explained, was the number of people petitioning MPs for money and assistance. This, he said, was the reason he had initially voted in favour in favour of the increase.

It was, he said, “very normal” for him to give away US$2000 (Rf 25,700) of his salary every month, “not only to constituents, but people from other parts of the country. People who are very poor come forward and ask me to please help them, and get very mad at me if I don’t.”

“At first I voted in favour [of the increase] because so many people were coming to me for help. This was something that was done for a long time back, and people now expect aid from parliamentarians. I was not a rich person before I was elected and I can’t give all my salary away, so that was the main reason I voted [in favour]. But maybe the next time somebody asks I can [justify] myself. When the general public are asking us not to do this, we should stop doing it.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives dismisses Gaddafi’s government as illegitimate, backs rebels

The President’s Office has issued a statement refuting the legitimacy of the Libyan government, and recognising the rebels as the country’s official representatives.

“The Maldives has decided to recognise the Libyan National Transition Council (LNTC) as the sole legitimate representative body of the Libyan people,” the President’s Office said.

The decision followed Qatar’s decision on March 28 to recognise the LNTC, a body given legitimacy on March 10 by France following a meeting with rebel leaders in Paris.

“The Maldives will always support people who stand up against human rights violations,” said President Nasheed. “The Libyan National Transition Council has become the sole legitimate representative of Libya and its people.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem said that Muammar Gaddafi’s government had lost legitimacy through “gross and systemic human rights violations, which appear to amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The rebel advances made in the wake of NATO airstrikes after Gaddafi’s tank columns came within miles of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi have stalled. Both sides have entered a push-pull statemate over key towns such as Brega

Al Jazeera journalist Hoda Abdel-Hamid, present in Ajdabiya, reported that the rebels were only advancing when Gaddafi’s forces retreated and lacked the discipline to hold ground when pushed back, or coordinate with NATO.

In once instance of friendly-fire, rebels confessed that an air-strike that killed 13 fighters near Brega on Sunday was triggered during a celebratory firing of an anti-aircraft gun while NATO aircraft were operating in the area.

“If you compare where we are today to where we were a few weeks ago, then we are in the exact same position,” Abdel-Hamid said.

Western powers are seeking a diplomatic end to the civil war by persuading Gaddafi to give up his rule of the country, while US President Barack Obama signed an order authorising the use of covert action in Libya, obstentiously providing training and possibly weapons to the rebel fighters.

However Western – and Maldivian – support of the LNTC is likely to be complicated by the complex tribal power struggles in the country once the rebels reach Tripoli.

Veteran war correspondent Robert Fisk, writing for the UK’s Independent newspaper, previously observed that the West has largely ignored that the powerful tribal group leading the rebellion in Libya, the Senoussi, were overthrown in 1969 when Gaddafi deposed their King Idris, and the red, black and green ‘rebel’ flag – the old flag of pre-revolutionary Libya – is in fact the Idris flag, a Senoussi flag.

“Now let’s suppose [the rebels] get to Tripoli. Are they going to be welcomed there? Yes, there were protests in the capital, but many of those brave demonstrators themselves originally came from Benghazi. What will Gaddafi’s supporters do? ‘Melt away’? Suddenly find that they hated Gaddafi after all and join the revolution? Or continue the civil war?”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

UN staff in Afghanistan killed by mob in protest over Quran burning by US pastor

Afghanistan has seen its worst violence in months after almost 20 people were killed over the weekend in protests over the burning of the Quran by fundamentalist US pastor Terry Jones.

The dead included seven staff at a UN mission in the normally quiet city of Mazar-i-Sharif, who were killed on Friday when several thousand demonstrators stormed the compound after prayers.

Four Nepalese guards at the entrance were killed while three Europeans from Sweden, Romania and Norway were shot after unsuccessfully attempting to barricade themselves in a secure room. Reports in the UK press claimed that two of the victims were also beheaded, while the third had his throat cut.

AFP meanwhile reported that the Russian head of the UN office survived by speaking in the local dialect and pretending to be Muslim.

Ten protesters were killed in a demonstration the following day in Kandahar, and 53 were injured.

Speaking to Reuters, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied that the insurgents were involved in the attack on the UN.

“The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims,” Mujahid said. “The foreigners brought the wrath of the Afghans on themselves by burning the Quran.”

Jones, who leads a small congregation in Florida, became the centre of a global media storm in September 2010 after threatening to burn the Quran in opposition to plans to construct an Islamic centre near the former site of the World Trade Centre. He was eventually persuaded to refrain from burning the Quran after phone calls from the US State Department, and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

However on March 20, 2010, receiving little attention from the US media, Jones proceeded with the burning and uploaded the footage to the Internet, with Arabic subtitles.

The Washington Post reported Jones as admitting he had reneged on his promise not to burn the Quran: “If you want to be technical,” he told the newspaper, “I guess we broke our word.”

News of the burning later erupted across Afghanistan after President Hamid Karzai condemned Jones’ burning of the Quran ahead of Friday prayers.

The US is already grappling with the fallout of a recent article in Rolling Stone magazine and German newspaper Der Spiegel, concerning a rogue army unit in Afghanistan accused of killing three Afghan civilians for sport and cutting off their fingers as trophies. Five soldiers have been charged with murder and are being tried in a military court.

In the wake of events this weekend, US President Barack Obama said that “The desecration of any holy text, including the Quran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry. However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity.”

The UN’s Envoy to Afghanisatan, Staffan de Mistura, described the burning as an “insane and totally despicable gesture”.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile condemned the killing of the UN staff as “an outrageous and cowardly attack which cannot be justified under any circumstances.”

The Washington Post meanwhile reported that in the wake of publicity surrounding the Quran burning Jones’ had been ostracised by his community, his congregation and income had plummeted, and both his Internet service provider and insurance company had cancelled their services.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Alliance Francaise creates ‘Male Montmatre’ in Sultans Park

The Maldives Alliance Francaise held its Francophonie’s Day today, with painters and poets working in the shade of Sultans Park to create a ‘Male’ Montmartre’ – sans Moulin Rouge.

The day began with a elaborate French brunch on the terrace of the National Library, overlooking the park, with both members and non-members enjoying coffee, croissants and a spectacular array of artisan cheeses from across France.

In the cool of the afternoon, the Le Printemps des poètes (Spring of Poetry) saw the recitation for poetry in Dhivehi, French and English, accompanied by traditional music including the Maldivian flute, dolki and kottafoshi.

School children participated in an creative workshop led by local artists, while this evening at 9:00pm the Alliance Francaise will host a cafe-concert at Seahouse.

President of the Maldives’ Alliance Francaise, Mohamed Ismail ‘Sikka’ Maniku, said this was the second year the organisation had decided to hold a Francophonie Day.

The purpose, he explained, was not only to teach French and celebrate French culture, “but our culture as well.”

“[The Alliance Francaise] is something really good that we have in Male’, because our youth need something much more concrete. They should have a place to go in the evenings,” he said.

“It’s not only about French classes. Youth [in Male’] lack focus. When you open a class it’s full, but after three months the numbers drop – that says a lot. We are trying to see how we can change this culture and show how people can engage with a goal, and keep an end in mind.”

Sikka proposed the idea of a ‘language house’, teaching not only French but other languages such as Spanish and Italian.

“Of course we do our part [and teach French], bu the main thing would be to engage young people, perhaps with a coffee house, so when they come out of lessons there is a place for them to talk,” he suggested.

“It should be a proper institution where people can come and learn a language and a culture. I think a language house is really important right now – we are a country with a service-oriented industry, so when you are able to communicate in another language it makes a huge difference.

“I remember long ago when Kurumba was opened I happened to be at the reception. There was a lady, sweating profusely, who was trying to communicate with the guy at the desk. I suspect he didn’t really know English – this was 1972. But then I realised she was a French lady, and the moment I said ‘Bonjour Madam’, she relaxed. If we want to deal with these people, we must know their language, we must know their culture.”

Sikka’s own introduction to French culture began with a job in Foreign Affairs after he had completed his O’levels in Sri Lanka. With an interest in foreign relations sparked, he returned to complete his A’levels, and on a whim he walked into the French Embassy in Colombo and asked if he could study in France.

“I remember the guy in the embassy asked where the Maldives was,” Sikka recalls. “But he said OK, and a week later he called me to say the French Ambassador wanted to see me. The Ambassador was very interested – and asked me: ‘Why France?’ I said that I had come to know that France was the best place to do study international relations.”

Within a month Sikka had a scholarship: “It was much later that i realised it happened because they were interested in it, I was lucky, and because there was a scholarship not utilised by Sri Lanka at the time I went in for it. The thinking was – ‘since it was not being utilised, why not give it to me?’”

Sikka studied in France for three years and returned to continue working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Later I wasI sent to the Maldives High Commission in Colombo, so my language was kept fresh, as well as the interest. I felt I owed something to both countries because of the opportunities I was given.”

Sikka became consul in France to the Maldives but it was only three years ago that an Alliance Francaise was opened in Male’.

Sikka says he hopes Maldivians will learn to become more connected to their own culture.

“Many people are probably not enough connected, for so many reasons,” he says. “We don’t learn about our own culture. My generation knew a little bit more, and we preserve it. But then there was a period when this was lacking.

“[Cultural education] should start in the schools – students should come more often to places like the museum, should be told what our forefathers did, what their sacrifices were, how they lived. I’m from a generation that knew a big wall around Male’, when there were only a few places you could enter. And once when I returned from school holidays there was no more wall.”

Among the changes since then, the greatest has been the recent tranisition to democracy, he says.

“A lot of us suffered under the old system, by not being in the thought of the government at that period. It was not because people were necessarily against them, but because [the government] had a perception that anyone who did not tow their line was against them. That fear is now gone.”

For more information on the Alliance Francaise in Male’ and its activities, visit http://afmaldives.org/

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Death of tourist at Kuredhoo Island Resort last year was accidental, finds UK inquest

An Oxfordshire inquest into the death of 42 year-old UK national Sharon Duval, who died while honeymooning with her husband Nick Duval at Kuredhoo Island Resort, has concluded that her death was accidental.

Sharon Duval and her husband, who together ran the Highwayman pub in Kidlington, visited the resort in early October last year. Her body was found on the seashore.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News at the time that Duval had been observed drinking at the resort’s bar until late in the evening prior to her death.

The inquest heard that on the night of her death the Duvals had been socialising with another couple, however when the group finished drinking Sharon Duval decided to walk back to her room in a different direction to the others.

“Sharon had her own mind and she would do things her own way, so we left in two different directions,” her husband told the court.

Nick Duval dozed off while waiting for Sharon’s return, but at 4:00am reported her missing and began a concerted search of the island.

“I looked everywhere, I walked up and down that island, checked every sun lounger I could find, looked under the hedges and the bushes, went to the ladies’ toilet, walked into the gents’ toilet. I walked all around, just kept looking and looking – I never expected she would be in the sea,” the Oxford Mail reported Duval as saying.

While he was searching, Sharon Duval’s body was found by another tourist, Nigel Bower, who told the court he was walking along the beach with his family looking for crabs by torchlight.

Kuredhoo staff informed Duval of his wife’s death and her body was returned to the UK for a postmortem, which revealed that her blood alcohol concentration was three and a half times the legal UK driving limit.

According to the Oxford Mail, Nick Duval had admitted to the court that he had once been arrested after an argument between the couple ended violently.

The court also heard that the deceased had been taking medication for depression since 2004, and in 2009 had overdosed on Paracentemol and Ibuprofen due to work-related stress “and her volatile relationship with her partner”.

However the postmortem ruled out “any third party involvement” and gave the cause of death as accidental drowning with a contribution of alcohol intoxication.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Libyan foreign minister defects while Obama authorises covert action

US President Barack Obama has authorised the use of covert US support for the Libyan rebels, as forces loyal to President Muammar Gaddafi pushed the poorly-disciplined rebels out of several recently-taken towns.

His signature has been widely reported as the first stage of authorising the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to arm the rebels, however neither the CIA or the US State Department would confirm the decision.

Obama never ruled out providing direct assistance, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar have expressed support for arming the rebels.

“It’s fair to say that if we wanted to get weapons into Libya, we probably could. We’re looking at all our options at this point,” Obama told US media.

Involvement of Western powers in Libya following the UN Security Council’s resolution has escalated from initially disabling Gaddafi’s air defenses in order to provide a no-fly zone, to attacking armour columns threatening rebel-held towns, and now to providing direct assistance to opposition forces.

Meanwhile, Gaddafi’s Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, also the head of the country’s infamous intelligence service, has defected from the Libyan dictator and arrived in London via Tunisa.

Koussa reportedly told waiting UK officials that he was “no longer willing” to represent Gaddafi’s government.

The US was also this week grappling with the fallout of an article in Rolling Stone magazine and German newspaper Der Spiegel, concerning a rogue army unit in Afghanistan accused of killing three civilians for sport and cutting off their fingers as trophies.

Photos collected by the soldiers showed members of the Fifth Stryker Brigade posing with the dead bodies. The soldiers involved reportedly killed the civilians and planted ‘drop weapons’ near the bodies, claiming they were enemy combatants.

After a concerted effort to repress the photos from publication, the Pentagon has apologised and claimed the images are “in striking contrast to the standards and values of the United States Army.”

Five soldiers have been charged with murder and are being tried in a military court.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Syrian President dismisses cabinet as protests grow violent

President of Syria Bashar al-Assad has dismissed his cabinet in an effort to satiate protesters after two weeks of unrest, mirroring the approach of desposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

At one stage the 45 year-old Western-educated leader had promised to step down at the end of his term, but now appears to be trying to placate the protesters with the heads of his cabinet ministers.

Death tolls from the crackdowns have reached 130, according to activists in the country, while the official count is 30.

AFP reported that Syrian authorities were now “studying the liberalisation of laws on media and political parties as well as anti-corruption measures.”

In his first speech since the uprising began, Assad claimed that genuine protesters calling for reform were being led astray by instigators and “foreign plots”.

Syria, he claimed, was “a target of a big plot from outside, both internally and externally. If there is something happening it is using the cover of accusing Syria of popular response. If there are reformers we will support them. Those people have mixed and confused intellectual ways.”

“The plotters are the minority… we didn’t know what had happened until the sabotage operations had happened, since then we could see the difference between reform and killing. We are for people’s demands but we cannot support chaos and destruction.”

The US has backed calls for reforms in Syria – a key antagonist of the country’s Israeli allies – but stood short of calling for regime change.

“”We support the timely implementation of reforms that meet the demands that Syrians are presenting to their government, such as immediately eliminating Syria’s state of emergency laws,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We want to see peaceful transitions and we want to see democracies that represent the will of the people.”

Meanwhile besieged Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has refused to step down even as rebel forces take town after town on the road to Tripoli, backed by NATO air power, has lashed out at world leaders for their interference.

“Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya,” Gaddafi wrote in a letter to the European Parliament and the US Congress, warning that the country was on the brink of becoming a second Afghanistan”.

“Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida,” he wrote.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives among only three countries to ever graduate from least-developed status: UN report

The Maldives is among only three countries to ever advance from the UN’s ‘least developed country’ (LDC) designation, according to a UN report reviewing the development of the world’s 51 poorest countries.

Only the Maldives (2010), Cape Verde (2007) and Botswana (1994) have ever graduated, leading UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to state that enduring marginalisation of the world’s 48 poorest countries promised “a future we cannot afford.”

“While the number of countries meeting the criteria of ‘least developed’ increased through the 1970s, 80s and 90s, the graduation rate from that grouping has been glacial,” the report’s authors said.

They extrapolated that despite limited economic and social progress, “the gap between the LDCs and the rest of the world, including the low middle income countries, is widening.”

“The structural disadvantage of these economies, weak human assets (education, health, nutrition etc), limited physical and institutional infrastructure, dependence on fragile agricultural sectors and a limited range of exports are at the heart of the continued marginalisation of these countries within the world economy,” the report stated.

While development was one ingredient, “LDCs should assume greater ownership of their own development trajectory,” the authors suggested.

“It is our contention that some of the tools to achieve this is through negotiating better prices for their valuable raw materials and in turn processing these materials to generate capital gains. Increased mobilisation of domestic resources is also a key tool in their development.”

The report also suggested that fighting corruption and seeking for the return of stolen assets can improve the business climate and spur future growth.”

While the Finance Ministry has previously insisted it has budgeted for the graduation, the Maldives’ progression to the middle income category limits the country’s access to concessional credit, removes certain trade concession, and some donor aid – as well as risks creating a perception in the donor community that it is ‘less deserving’ than countries still on the LDC list.

With a crippling budget deficit created by a bloated civil service spend, and political difficulties attached to its resolution, the Maldives earlier this month contested at the UN in New York that graduating countries still require special financial and technical assistance.

The UN may consider the issue ahead of a conference on LDCs to be held in Istanbul from May 9-13, which will seek to promote a 10-year programme for food security, decent work, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience and clean energy growth in the LDCs.

Read the report here (English)

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)