Author: Ahmed Nazeer

Civil Servants Association threatens to sue finance ministry if salaries lowered

The Maldivian Civil Servant Association (MCSA) said at a rally yesterday that it will file a lawsuit against the finance ministry if civil servants are given the lowered salary this month.

MSCA spokesman Abdulla Mohamed said the organisation was placing five lawyers on standby.

”The finance minister [Ali Hashim] has personal issues against the civil servants, he’s being stubborn,” Abdulla said, adding that the problems were getting worse “because [Hashim] does not have much knowledge on how to handle a government’s finance ministry.”

”Whatever he thinks is right at the moment, he does. He does not plan things well,” Abdulla claimed.

The ministry’s request that the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and parliament mediate its dispute between the CSC “is not a solution”, he said, insisting that the ministry needed to “follow the law” and pay the full salaries for this month.

Otherwise, he said, the government would be in debt and owe civil servants the rest of the money.

Abdulla further added that the CSC had been careless, and failed to fulfill its responsibility to ensure the deductions applied the independent commissions, judiciary and police as well as other civil servants.

State Finance Minister Ahmed Assad said holding discussions with just the CSC would not lead to a solution, and that the involvement of a third party was needed.

The civil servants would be receiving the lowered salaries this month, he said. “The MCSA has a right to go to court and file a lawsuit if they have problems with the finance ministry.”

In addition, Assad claimed the CSC did not discuss the restoration of civil servants salary with the finance ministry.

”But they did asked us once: ‘is the country still in the state of a economic crisis?’, and we said ‘yes’,” Assad explained.

Governor of the MMA Fazeel Najeeb said the organisation would not outline its involvement in the arbitration process yet, but would speak to the press in several weeks.

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Permanent secretaries sandwiched between CSC and finance ministry

The permanent secretaries of government ministries, responsible for filling in the salary sheets, have become collateral damage in the scrap between the finance ministry and the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The CSC has ordered permanent secretaries to submit the sheets with salaries at the levels prior to the government’s reductions in October, while the finance ministry has threatened legal action against any civil servants who fill in the salary sheets according to the restored amount.

”We are very disappointed and we do not know what to do now,” said the permanent secretary of the home ministry, Maryam Waheeda.

Waheeda said she had submitted the salary sheet according to the restored amount yesterday, as instructed by the CSC, but the finance ministry had sent it back.

”We cannot do anything against the CSC,” she said. “In this situation when the CSC and the finance ministry are disputing our salary, we the civil servants are worried and wonder how this is going to end.”

The permanent secretary of the trade ministry Yousuf Riza said he had submitted the ministry’s salary sheet both ways, ”how the finance ministry have said, and how the CSC has said.”

“The finance ministry will have to decide which sheet they will accept,” he said.

The permanent secretary of ministry of tourism arts and culture, Ahmed Solih said he had “not yet decided” how he would be making out the salary sheet.

Haveeru reported that the permanent secretary of the defense ministry had been sent home for trying to fill in the salary sheet according to the restored amount, while Ismail Shafeeq, the permanent secretary in perhaps the most contentious position – the finance ministry – would only hint that he had filled in the sheet “as I was told to.”

Asked by who, he replied mysteriously: “the one who told me”.

Meanwhile independent MP Mohamed Nasheed called a press conference and claimed “it is not the duty of the finance ministry to restore, deduct or increase the salary of civil servants.”

“The civil servants’ salary has to processed according to how the CSC instructs,” he said. It it is a right of the finance ministry to go to the court if they have disputes, they should not have to spread circulars saying [civil servants] cannot accept the restored salary.”

Regarding the government’s announcement that it would asked the parliament to arbitrate the dispute, he said the Majlis “was not a government institute from which to get legal advice.”

The civil servants are staging a protest tonight at 8:30 pm near the tsunami monument to protest against the finance ministry for not restoring their salary.

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Vice President meets with Representative for the Regional UNODC Office for South Asia

Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has met with the Representative for the Regional UNODC Office for South Asia, Cristina Albertin, to discuss the strengthening of the country’s response to drug abuse.

Speaking at the meeting, Waheed said that fighting against drug issues was one of the key pledges of the government.

He noted the important role civil societies could play in this endeavour, and stressed the need for more NGOs to be created.

Albertin agreed that the government alone could not prevent drug abuse in the country, and said that controlling the supply of drugs and punishing the drug importers was the strongest way to stop drug abuse in the country.

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CSC issues pay-day ultimatum to ministries

The ongoing dispute between the finance ministry and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) has heated up, after the CSC warned it would take legal action against any CSC member who prepares a wages bill with the reduced salaries.

A letter circulated among permanent secretaries urged them to send the salary sheets to the finance ministry with the restored levels, and said  employees who prepared the wage bill would have to bear responsibility both for the reduced salary and disregarding the CSC’s directive.

The finance ministry retaliated by threatening legal action against government payroll officers who failed to fill out a reduced salary sheet, while a highly-placed source in the government said political appointees rather than civil servants would fill out the salary sheets.

On 13 January the finance ministry issued a statement directing  all government institutions to make out the salary sheets according to the reduced amount, claiming that the three month period of reduced civil servant pay is to be increased until the government’s “special circumstances” are resolved.

The CSC has meanwhile announced that the finance ministry’s agreement to reduce civil servants’ salary for three months is now over, claimed that all civil servants must receive their full salary starting from this month.

The country’s political parties divided over the issue.

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) claimed the finance ministry “has no right” to deduct the salary of civil servants.

DRP member Mohamed Hussain ”Mundhu” Shareef said the party was resolute that civil servants would receive the same salaries as before.

“When President Nasheed came to the administration, reducing the amount of civil servants to from 29,000 to 18,000 was not in his manifesto,” Mundhu said, accusing him “of torturing the people”.

Reducing, increasing and resolving civil servants salaries was in the hands of the CSC, he said, and that the finance ministry was unable to set the salary against the CSC’s wishes.

Maldivian Democratic Party  (MDP) MP Mohamed “Colonel” Nasheed said the salary crisis was a national issue and an “economic domino” waiting to fall.

“If the CSC is upset there are a lot of problems we face other than civil servants salaries,” he said.

Nasheed suggested that the government institutions involved needed to get together and come to an agreement.

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“Not long” before police arrest remaining four top dealers, says police drugs chief

The head of the police drug enforcement unit Mohamed Jinah has claimed “it won’t be long” before police arrest the remaining four of the top six drug dealers identified by President Mohamed Nasheed.

“Two of the top six drug dealers have been arrested. We will arrest the remaining four as soon as possible,” he promised.

“They are not difficult to catch, but we want to catch them with a lot of proof and evidence. That is why it is taking so long.”

Jinah said that instead of focusing on capturing street level drug dealers, police had this year tried to target the higher levels and block the problem from the top.

”Hopefully, this year we will also arrest many smugglers and drug dealers,” he added.

Police also revealed today that they had pursued 2363 drugs-related cases in 2009, 1038 of which were sent to the prosecutor general’s office.

Police also conducted 200 “special operations to capture drug dealers in Male, ” Jinah revealed.

Last year police also seized 11.5 kilograms of drugs, including heroine, cannabis and benzodiazepine.

That haul meant the number of new drug users had been reduced by 43 per cent compared to previous years, Jinah said, citing a police survey.

Meanwhile, the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) recently caused controversy by transferring 87 inmates to house arrest, many of whom were drug offenders caught in possession of less than three grams of narcotic.

The DPRS said seven of them had been returned to jail because of bad behaviour “and not following the rules we applied to them.”‘

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EU’s anti-drug money will go towards rehabilitation

The Maldives has signed a memorandum of understanding between the European Union (EU) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The deal includes an aid package worth €1.5 million over two and a half years to strengthen the country’s response to drug abuse.

Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed said the money, which comes from the EU and would be in the hands of UNODC, will mostly be used to help with the rehabilitation of drug addicts, make people aware of the relationship between HIV and drug use.

Dr Shaheed signed the agreement at a ceremony yesterday with EU Ambassador Varnerd Savage and representative of the UNODC Regional Office South Asia, Cristina Albertin.

Speaking at the ceremony, Varnard said the program would strengthen the national response to combating drug abuse in the Maldives, and would target the major problem areas of drugs and crime.

Albertin said 10 per cent of the Maldivian population is affected by drug abuse, and that UNODC hoped the program would assist  in the country’s enforcement of drug laws.

Reaction

Chairperson of the Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) Fathmath Aafiya said she hoped the project would not end up like the government’s previous ‘WAKE-UP’ program.

”The government does not do sufficient work to reduce the number of drug importers,” she said, criticising the government’s lenient treatment of dealers by placing some under house arrest and letting others go free.

Aafiya said the government had “a lot of work to do” to reduce the importation of drugs into the country.

SWAD was expecting the new program to be beneficial, she added, as it would increase the aftercare and rehabilitation of drug users.

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President talks energy with ruler of Dubai

President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday met Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the UAE’s vice president.

During this meeting the pair mostly discussed climate change, energy and tourism.

Sheikh Mohammed praised the role Maldives’ played in addressing climate change, and expressed desire to continue and reinforce the existing relationship between Maldives and the UAE.

Nasheed said the energy summit in Abu Dhabi would highlight the importance of alternative energy sources to combat climate change, and added for the the Maldives to fulfil its pledge of becoming a carbon neutral country, collecting the equipment was vital.

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IDP ‘has no future’ says Umar, jumping to DRP

President of the Islamic Democractic Party (IDP) Umar Naseer today said there was “no future” in a political career as president of such a small party.

Umar also announced he was joining the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) to further his political career, and claimed “the majority” of the IDP  now wished to disband the party altogether.

Umar was welcomed to the DRP by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, during a special ceremony held on Sunday. Gayoom described Umar as an “outstanding politician”, and said it was significant that the president of another political party had elected to join the DRP.

Umar did not reveal whether he planned to contest the leadership of DRP. Candidates are required to nominate themselves for the elections by the end of January.

IDP collapse

The impact of Umar’s departure on the IDP is unclear. While the departing president said he was disbanding it, “a minority in the party are resisting and working to keep the IDP running as a political party,” he said.

At the ceremony, Gayoom said it was a great achievement for DRP for getting an outstanding politician like Umar and it is more special when a person who used to be the president of a different party joins DRP.

During a ‘aadhaya hilaafu’ congress of IDP members, Umar said the party’s members had consented to dissolve the party.

However IDP’s Vice President Mohamed Hassan Manik said  Umar “had no right” to disband the party because the majority of the party “do not want to do it,” and that it was illegal for him to do so.

”Maybe the majority of Alarms Pvt Ltd and the Whale Submarine [companies owned by Umar] want to dissolve the party, but none of IDP members want to,” Hassan said.

He furthermore condemned Umar for being “hungry for power.”

“That’s what he wants. We are very disappointed that a person trying to run for the administration of a country hesitates to follow the law,” Hassan said.

Hassan said the DRP were welcome to Umar “because the party needs someone who is willing to go out to the streets and protest to defend the DRP.”

”Umar is perfect for that,” Hassan said.

President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq described the whole case as ”a big mess and very unclear”.

Fuad said that nothing that Hassan and Umar said had anything in common, and that the Elections Commission was now gathering all of the IDP’s documents to try and decide whether Umar was technically able to disband the party.

Conflict at the IDP

The IDP was founded in December 2005 by Umar Naseer, Mohamed Haneef, Ahmed Inaz, Mohamed Ibrahim Didi, Abdulla Waheed and Mahamed Hassan Manik.

During the 2008 presidential election Umar, as a presidential candidate, garnered 1.39 per cent of the country’s votes (2472). The party received 214 votes during the elections to the Maldivian Assembly on 9 May 2009.

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MNC gathering international lawyers to pursue Gayoom in court

The Maldives National Congress (MNC) today claimed it was gathering a group of lawyers with the intention of bringing former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom before court, over allegations of human rights abuses under his administration.

President of the MNC Mohamed Naeem claimed Gayoom had killed “many innocent people” during his 30 years as president of the Maldives.

Furthermore, Naeem alleged that when MDP candidate Mohamed Nasheed became president, “there was nothing left of the government’s money.”

“Otherwise, today Maldivians would be living very happily,” Naeem said.

The MNC’s legal team would include lawyers brought from abroad, he added.

Gayoom’s spokesman Mohamed Hussain ‘Mundhu’ Shareef replied that “even if the MNC brings in lawyers from space, they cannot charge Maumoon for something he did not commit.”

Mundhu further added that Gayoom intended to file a lawsuit against Naeem for spreading “untrue stories” about the former president.

“We don’t consider the MNC a political party,” Mundhu said. “They have no supporters. I can say this because I have never met a member of that party from any part of the Maldives.”

The MNC also demanded that Gayoom “must not receive a single penny from the Maldivian government.”

Opposition party DRP spokesperson Ibrahim Shareef responded that if President Nasheed was receiving his monthly salary, Gayoom should receive his allowance for being former president of the Maldives.

Shareef added the MNC “did not know what were speaking about” and that they “had gone crazy.”

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