Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Attackers burn sleeping woman with electric wires

A sleeping woman was badly burned after a group of men broke into her house at night and tied live wires to her feet.

Police said the group entered her house in Laamu atoll on Wednesday night and tied the wires to her toes, then connected it with mains electricity.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the 35 year old woman suffered cuts and burns to her legs.

”They used electric wires and live electricity to create the shock,” he said.

Person in-charge of Laamu Gan Regional Hospital, Ali Faisal, said the shock had badly burned the toes on the woman’s left foot. He added that she had now been discharged.

Haveeru reported that the woman was still unable to walk.

Police are investigating the case but no arrests have been made so far.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

DRP claims MDP influencing Elections Commission

The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has accused the Elections Commission (EC) of failing to register members who have shifted to the DRP from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef, spokesman for the former president and DRP member in charge of the Noonu atoll branch, said he noticed the problem when 66 newly-joined DRP members from the island of Miladhoo in Noonu Atoll failed to appear on a list from the EC.

”As soon as we figured out these people were missing from the EC list, we scanned it to see whether people from other atolls were missing as well,” he said.

That recount revealed many more DRP members from Haa Alifu Atoll and Gaafu Aalifu Atoll missing from the list, Mundhu claimed.

“People who shifted from Adhaalath party and Qaumeee party were in the list, but those who came from MDP were not there,” he said, accusing the MDP of influencing the EC.

He said that the DRP had sent a letter to the EC two weeks ago to clarify why the people were missing from the list “but they have not responded.”

President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq said the claims made by the DRP that members were missing from the list were untrue.

He said that by law people could only be members of one political party, “and sometimes when people try to join a party without resigning from another registered party, we will not register them.”

Thaufeeq furthermore stressed that the commission was working independently ”and nobody can influence us.”

Spokesman for MDP Ahmed Haleem said the EC was an independent institution and accused the DRP “of inventing a new story about MDP everyday”

”They spread these type of rumours just to gain popularity,” he said. “They can’t get famous without saying something against us,” he said.

DRP MP Ahmed Mahloof said he had heard no information about the issue while MDP MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik claimed “nobody from MDP would resign to join DRP.”

”The EC works independently; it was elected by the parliament,” Moosa said. “They were elected not only by the vote of MDP MPs but DRP MPs voted for them as well.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

PA claims government was warned about Maafushi protest

The People’s Alliance (PA) has claimed the government was aware of a possible protest in Maafushi jail over prison conditions, but did not take any action.

Last year on 13 October inmates set fire on some of the cells and caused serious damage to the jail. Two staff jail were badly injured during the protest, along with several inmates.

Because of the damage to the jail caused by the inmates parts of the jail were no longer usable, and after the incident some of the inmates were transferred to a makeshift ‘cage’ prison at Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) base at Gan in Addu atoll. The temporary arrangement recently drew criticism for its use of military personnel to handle civilian prisoners.

PA MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur claimed the government was aware of the situation at Maafushi jail after it was sent a letter by Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), warning of a possible incident, but chose to ignore it.

”I’m saying this based on a report published by HRCM,” he said, claiming the letter was sent on 30 December following a visit to the jail by the commission.

”We cannot do anything more than inform people about these things,” he said, adding that he was not sure why the government had ignored the warning.

”It seems as though there are people more powerful than the president in this government,” he said.

However press secretary for president’s office Mohamed Zuhair disputed Jamal’s claims.

Zuhair said the government had been watching the jails very closely, and ”if we had received information that such a thing was going to happen, would you believe we would wait without taking any action?” he replied.

”These are just people trying to gain fame in politics,” he said.

Jamal said he does not believe Zuhair, saying “he would not know what he is talking about.”

President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said Jamal’s claims might be in a report, “but I cannot say whether they are true or not.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

DRP denies rumours of internal dispute over primaries

Reports of internal disputes in the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party over whether to hold primaries in the run up to the party’s congress are incorrect, the party has claimed.

Despite a court case the between DRP leader elect Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and coalition partner People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen, and earnest debate over whether the party will hold primaries rather than automatically put its leader forward as a presidential candidate, the DRP insists the party is united.

DRP spokesman Ibrahim Shareef said ongoing rumours over splits in the party were untrue.

”People think the party is dividing because these are the days before our elections, so we are competing with each other – that’s why some people think we are having internal disputes,” Shareef said.

Shareef said in reality there were no internal disputes in the party.

However former president of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and DRP member Umar Naseer claimed that among the DRP MPs there are MDP supporters ”who wear blue T-shirts and pretend to be DRP supporters but actual fact are MDP supporters.”

Umar said it would be “very beneficial” for the party if the amendment of to hold a primary election was approved, as ”everyone must have the right to run for the presidential election.”

He said that he had not yet decided whether to do so himself.

Spokesman for the former president Ibrahim ‘Mundhu’ Sharef said rumours of internal strife within the DRP were being spread to encourage people to dislike the party.

Mundhu said ”the DRP is a democratic political party, and we solve all our problems peacefully.”

He claimed the DRP’s large membership base supported the party because of the love they have for former president Gayoom “and not for money or by force.”

In contrast, only 18 per cent of the population supported MDP “according to several polls we took.”

MDP spokesman Ahmed Haleem claimed that disputes were occurring within the opposition party naturally “as it changes into a democratic party. This happens in the early stage of any democracy,” he said.

“The DRP was largely based around former president Gayoom,” he said, “and their disputes over whether to elect a presidential candidate through a primary is due to the number of undemocratic people in the party.”

“Hopefully the DRP will become a democratic party very soon,” he added.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Government to launch polytechnic institution

Cabinet has approved the creation of a vocational higher-education institution with the stated aims of producing skilled workers, training young people and reducing the country’s reliance on expatriate workers.

With invention of the new institute, to be called ‘Maldives Polytechnic’, programs currently run by the Maldives Institute of Vocational Education Training (MIVET) and and the Faculty of Engineering Technology will be folded into the one institution.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said the majority of workers in the Maldives with skills in specific fields, notably trades, are foreigners. He said the government intended to reduce the number of foreign workers by training skilled people locally.

”It will even make it easy for the government to provide services for people,” he said.

The new polytechnic would provide high-level jobs for trainers and educators, he added.

President of MIVET advisory council Shafeea Zubair said that the main aim of the Maldives Polytechnic was to involve young people in the country’s economy, helping unemployed youths to train and get jobs.

“The majority of young people are unemployed,” she said, “because they get their basic needs provided by their family. This is the culture of the country, and it needs to be stopped.”

She said when the polytechnic starts operating all the program conducted by Faculty of Engineering and MIVET would come under the institute to allow the Maldives College of Higher Education to evolve into a university.

The educational development would help diversify the economy beyond fishing and tourism, she said.

“The Maldivian economy is based on fishing and tourism, only a few prefer working in these fields,” she said.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

CSC takes finance ministry to civil court over salary issue

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has filed a lawsuit against the finance ministry in the civil court, as it had previously threatened to do unless the ministry reinstated the reduced salaries.

The court confirmed the case was had been lodged and accepted, in an attempt “to cancel a decision taken by the ministry”. Yesterday the civil court returned a verdict in favour of the CSC in its attempt to overturn a decision made by the home ministry to cut the allowances of ‘responsible officers’ in atoll and island offices.

Spokesman for the CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the commission had informed the finance ministry that it was about to take the issue to court, and would not give out details of the case.

”The [finance ministry] said ‘hey, you decided to go to the courts, so lets see what the court says’,” Fahmy claimed.

Spokesman for the finance ministry Ismail Shafeeq said that the ministry would also not comment on the case now it had become a court matter.

”They are doing what’s right by them, so what shall we say about this?” he asked. ”The ministry can’t stop someone from going to the court”.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said he still believed that the problem could be solved by negotiations.

”The government always wants to talk and solve the problem, and we still can talk and it even though there’s a court case,” he said.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Umar Naseer claims MDP influencing internal DRP politics

Former president of the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) and candidate for the DRP vice presidency, Umar Naseer, has claimed he is being targeted by an amendment presented to the party insisting candidates seeking elections to senior positions must have been a member for at least six months.

”It must be someone related to MDP who is trying to stop me from becoming the vice president of DRP,” Umar claimed.

He said that the MDP “was afraid that if I become the vice president of the party the government might fall”, and said the ruling party was “planning many things” to stop him from becoming the DRP’s vice president.

DRP MP Ahmed Mausoom said the amendments would only be announced on the 16 and 17 of February, adding that he did not know who had presented the amendment.

DRP MP Ali Waheed, who is also contesting for the party’s vice presidency, said he had not yet gone through the amendments and could not comment on them yet. He said he gave the eight candidates running for the post of vice president his “best wishes”.

Spokesman for MDP Ahmed Haleem said that the MDP “does not consider Umar Naseer a political figure”, and added that the party was looking forward to a time when DRP “strengthens its inner democracy and leadership to become a strong opposition party.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MPs planning no-confidence motion against finance minister

A group of MPs have announced they intend to put a no-confidence motion against Finance Minister Ali Hashim before parliament.

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed claimed Hashim’s conduct in his role as minister had on several occasions been “against the law.”

”It’s not only the issue of civil servants salary, he has done many things against the law,” he claimed.

Nasheed has previously said he would pursue a no-confidence motion against Hashim after the finance minister failed to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating the ministry’s treatment of the independent commissions.

“He left the country,” noted Nasheed at the time, adding when the committee requested State Finance Minister Ahmed Assad appear in Hashim’s stead, the ministry sent two junior officers.

“If he doesn’t appear, we’ll make a report to parliament questioning his confidence,” Nasheed warned. “He’s being irresponsible and it’s so unnecessary and uncalled for.”

Today, Nasheed said that the group of MPs had almost finished the necessary documentation “and I will be the first to sign the petition.”

He said he did not yet want to reveal the details of what the petition contains.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party DRP MP Ahmed Ilham said he supported the no-confidence motion against the finance minister.

”He bought shares in the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) [without the knowledge of parliament], he is paying salaries to province councillor when they have yet to be approved – these things are against the law,” Ilham claimed.

Former president of Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) Umar Naseer and candidate for the vice-presidency of the DRP said motion was overdue, and accused Hashim “of being unable to read and write.”

MDP MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik said he preferred not comment on the issue before the petition was presented to the parliament.

MDP Spokesman Ahmed Haleem said parliament had failed the last time it tried to press a no-confidence vote (against Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed), “and I do not think they can do it this time either.”

He accused Nasheed of trying to make the no-confidence vote to gain support from DRP.

”At first we hoped Nasheed would be a very beneficial man for the country and would do a lot of good, but now I see he does so many things against democracy,” Haleem said.

Minivan News sought response from the finance ministry on several occasions but received no response at time of press.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Businessman robbed of Rf435,000 in gang attack

A businessman has been attacked and robbed of Rf435,000 (US$33850) and US$7100 in the latest of a series of gang attacks in Male’.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the incident occurred last night around 12:00am on Janavary Magu near Sonee Hardware.

Shiyam said the man was carrying money belonging to a company when the gang approached and stabbed him.

The man is currently being treated at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) “and his condition is not very serious,” according to Shiyam.

An eye witness told Minivan News that the 41 year old victim was stabbed in the back and robbed of Rf435,000 and US$7100 during the incident. He said the man was taken to ADK Hospital around 12:30am.

Police did not know whether this case was related to other recent similar cases, Shiyam said, in which business owners carrying large amounts of money after closing their stores are attacked by gangs.

Last year on 28 December prominent businessman Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, known as ‘Campus’ Didi, was stabbed and robbed of almost US$300,000 in cash by unknown assailants. He was badly injured during the incident and was flown to India for emergency treatment.

Two days later, the manager of the Sunfront store, Mohamed Rashaad Adam, and an employee of the shop were attacked by a gang when they were on their way back to home with the day’s takings in cash with them in a small bag. The employee was badly injured but no money was stolen during the attack.

Vice President of the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce Institution (MNCCI) Ismail Asif said the organisation had held a meeting with police to make businessmen aware about these sort of incidents.

”We are trying to make Male’ a peaceful place for the businessman,” Asif said.

He said it was bad for businesses to face these kind of challenges “especially during a time of economic crisis like this.”

He such crimes could be prevented if people became more aware of the dangers of carrying large amounts of money.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)