Author: Minivan News

PPM’s Abdulla Yameen takes up parliament minority leader role

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Parliamentary Group Leader Abdulla Yameen has been confirmed as the minority leader of the People’s Majlis this morning by Speaker Abdulla Shahid, local media has reported.

With the PPM now recognised an an official party in parliament following the election of MP Ahmed Shareef to the Thimarafushi constituency last week, the former opposition party now holds the second highest number of MPs in the Majlis.  The PPM presently has 17 MPs, placing it behind only the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in terms of the size of its parliamentary representation.

The majority leader within the Majlis remains the MDP Parliamentary Group chief Ibrahim ‘Ibu’ Solih.

In discussing the new formation of parliament, Speaker Shahid confirmed that the MDP presently holds 32 MPs in the Majlis chamber, while PPM holds 17 elected representatives, according to Haveeru. The Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), which formerly held the minority leadership position, presently holds 15 MPs and the Jumhoory Party (JP) has three elected parliamentary members. The People’s Alliance (PA) has two MPs and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) presently has a single elected representative in the Majlis.

Speaking in the Majlis today, Abdulla Shahid also confirmed that seven MPs currently stood as independents.

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Maldives, India and Sri Lanka conduct joint naval exercises

The Maldives, India, and Sri Lanka are to hold joint naval exercises over the next five days, according to the official website of the Sri Lankan Navy. The exercises, labelled “DOSTI – XI”, will be carried out in Maldivian waters.

The operations are being caried out with the aim of “strengthening bonds of friendship and enhancing mutual operational capability and cooperation. The exercise will focus on Maritime Search and Rescue, Marine Pollution Response and Boarding Operations,” the website says.

“Due to its geo-strategic significance, it is important for the Coast Guards of the three friendly countries to ensure the safety and security of the Indian Ocean for all sea-farers. The mutually beneficial exercise, therefore, will pay the way for launching coordinated efforts in times of crisis,” the site continues.

Maldives’ Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim visited India at the start of this month to discuss opportunities for greater military cooperation between the two South Asian nations.

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Maldives outlines maritime threats, solutions: DefenceWeb

The Maldives is facing a growing number of maritime threats, including piracy, illegal fishing, human-trafficking, drug-smuggling and gun-running. However, the archipelago is developing its ability to protect against any threat that may reach its shores, DefenceWeb reports.

To this end it has established joint maritime patrols with India and is setting up a coastal radar system and information-sharing network.

In a paper released during the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in Cape Town last week, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) detailed the threats, challenges and responses to the issue of maritime security.  Due to its location in the Indian Ocean, the 1 190-island nation functions as a natural barrier between maritime traffic transiting through strategic gateways into the Indian Ocean such as the Malacca Straits, Strait of Hormuz and Bab-el Mandeb.

As a result, the Maldives faces a number of transnational criminal and piracy threats, including human-trafficking, drug-smuggling and gun-running.

Although drug-smuggling routes have been known to cross the Maldives for many years, extensive crimes mentioned above are not exclusively known to target the nation. However, the Maldives has experienced an influx of skiffs floating into its waters since December 2009. Today there are 40 suspected Somali nationals in the Maldives waiting to be extradited back, according to the IONS document.

The Maldives is also feeling the shift in piracy operations within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In May and November of 2010 two merchant ships encountered pirates within the Maldivian EEZ – one was attacked and the other chased by pirates.

Recently, on March 26, 2012, a Bolivian flagged bulk-carrier, the MV Eglantine was hijacked inside the EEZ. To date no Maldivian vessels has been approached suspiciously nor been affected by piracy directly.
Apart from security threats, the Maldives also faces pollution and illegal fishing problems, which is of concern as it dependent on its natural beauty and resources to generate economic growth.

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President makes Dhivehi book fair visit for Writer’s Day

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan yesterday attended the 2012 Writer’s Book Fair, an event organised by the recently established Dhivehi Language Academy.

The president attended the event, which started last Wednesday (April 18), during its final day.

As part of his visit, which was scheduled to coincide with Writers’ Day, Dr Waheed spoke with participants about the books available for sale at the fair, the President’s Office has said.

The academy was inaugurated back in August last year in an attempt to to promote, preserve and study the origins and usage of the Dhivehi language .

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Housing Ministry accuses MCC of misleading the public in Huravee and Dharubaaruge dispute

The Housing Ministry has accused Male’ City Council (MCC) of misleading the public in laying the blame for potential service disruption following last week’s disputes solely at its door, according to Sun Online.

Last week the MCC was informed by the Housing Ministry that it’s Dharubaaruge staff were to be transferred to the ministry and a day later, that it had to vacate some of its offices in the Huravee building to make way for new government departments.

Following the latter incident, the MCC held a press conference in which it said: “These services [provided at the Huravee site] will be obstructed because of the Housing Ministry’s actions”.

The Housing Ministry rejected the claims made by the MCC that its actions were disrupting the Council’s provision of services.

“Following our request to vacate these premises, City Council told the media that this ministry obstructs public services provided by City Council – which is a purposeful attempt to mislead the public on this issue,” a Ministry statement is reported to have argued.

The Ministry is also reported to have said, “[We] made the request from City Council on two occasions, to hold discussions on the arrangements to be made following the transfer of employees [from Dharubaaruge] to this ministry, but [were] not met with a reasonable response from City Council.”

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Nasheed playing up extremism for political gain: President’s spokesperson

Government Spokesman Abbas Adil Riza has told Haveeru that former President Nasheed is trying to portray the Maldives as “a second Afghanistan”.

Abbas accused Nasheed of sensationalising the problems in the Maldives to gain political support abroad.

“Most people in the current administration had received their higher studies from western countries. The Maldivian education system had been based upon Cambridge education. The statements he is making to the western audience stating that Maldivians are religious extremists is based on his greed for power. Nasheed wants to accomplish what he wants no matter how much Maldives is to suffer,” Riza told Haveeru.

Nasheed has spoken to both the Wahington Post and the Indian Express on the subject of radical Islam in recent days. He also told the Washington Post that he feared that the return of a repressive regime may radicalise dissidents.

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‘I will go to hell and back to bring democracy back to Maldives’ Nasheed tells Indian Express

In an interview with the Indian Express, former President Mohamed Nasheed told his interviewers that he would “go to hell and back to bring democracy back to Maldives.”

Nasheed was asked to give his versions of the events of February 6 and 7, before being asked to describe Islamic radicalism in the Maldives.

“Radical Islam, as a movement, has been taking root in Maldives for a long time, especially during dictatorships when the only room for dissent is through these groups. They are the ones who gather in mosques, they are good at working underground. So anyone who wants to challenge authority would join them,” responded Nasheed.

“Youngsters are recruited, their mothers are told they can send their children for schooling to Pakistan. These young people go to Pakistan. There’s a school on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where these children are brutalised. And often from these madarsas, they join the Taliban,” he continued.

Responding to queries about the prospect of free and fair elections, Nasheed said: “The new Constitution has established an Election Commission appointed by Parliament and answerable to Parliament. I have full confidence in the Commission. But if we give them (the current government) time till 2013, they will meddle with it. The elections must be observed and monitored. I hope there will be Indian assistance in monitoring these elections.”

Nasheed also took the opportunity to reaffirm the link between democracy, transparency, and effective climate change policies.

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Dhiraagu reveals cable repair vessel to arrive April 25, discusses compensation

Dhiraagu has said it does not wish to speculate on a date for the completion of repairs to a damaged section of submarine cable that has severely impacted its internet services over the last week.

The local telecoms group said that until repair work commences on April 25, the company would not be able address the scale and cause of the damage to a section of cable based 26 kilometres from the Sri Lankan coast.  However, a spokesperson stressed to Minivan News that the cause of damage to the cable was being seen as an “accident” at present.

Company Chief Executive Ismail Rasheed today told local media that Dhiraagu would be providing compensation for customers affected by the disruption to its internet services as it works to increase capacity.

Dhiraagu has been looking for so called “diversity routes” since the damage occurred to the cable last Wednesday (April 18), forcing it to provide a “degraded” service to its internet customers,  whilst prioritising e-mail and browsing services.

Dhiraagu added that as part of a national agreement, telecoms rival Wataniya would be assisting in providing data capacity from its own unaffected submarine cable.  The company has said that is is also working to strengthen its satellite operations for international phone services.

Asean Explorer

Company spokesperson Imjad Jaleel has told Minivan News that the Asean Explorer vessel equipped to enact repairs on submarine cables was still expected to leave India on Tuesday before arriving in Sri Lanka the next day.

According to the company, the damage has been located to a section of cable situated 40 metres below the Sri Lankan waters. The cable itself connects Sri Lanka directly to the island of Huhlumale’. From Hulhumale’, this signal is then carried across the country’s scattered atolls.

Spokesperson Imjad stressed that the company would not yet be speculating on a date for full services to resume until it could offer more detailed information to its customers.

The damage sustained to its cable was still being considered an “accident”, possibly resulting from an errant anchor, he added.

The company claimed that preliminary testing had shown that the damage was not believed to have resulted from earth quakes or other geological occurrences, leaving anchoring ships as the most probable cause.

According to Imjad, the cable itself is situated in one of two areas in Sri Lankan waters specifically set aside for the country to house its underwater communications cables. In these areas, the anchoring of ships is not permitted, he added.

“We believe that there could have been an accident with an anchor perhaps accidentally being dropped in these waters, but we will only be able to asses fully on April 25,” Imjad claimed.

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Former President Gayoom meets with Sri Lankan President

Former President of the Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom met with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday to discuss the country’s bilateral ties.

Gayoom expressed his support for President Waheed’s recent pledge to hold elections in July 2013. The former president also highlighted the need for Sri Lankan investment in the Maldivian economy, reports Haveeru.

Rajapaksa was reported to have been told of the need for a peaceful environment in which President Waheed’s administration could continue to develop the country.

The Sri Lankan President thanked the Maldivian government for its recent support for the country at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) won its first official seat in parliament last weekend after its candidate won the Thimirafushi by-election. All other PPM supporters in the Majlis have been required to stand as independents since the party was formed in October 2011.

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