Author: Maryam Omidi

As the first female MP and a stalwart of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Aneesa Ahmed is a household name. Minivan News brings you the first in a two-part interview with the DRP parliamentary leader on her decision to quit politics and the upcoming parliamentary elections.

You’re not running for parliament. Did that come as a surprise to people?

Many people questioned me so I guess they were not expecting me to retire but I had decided to do this in 2005, to retire actually after the presidential term was over but then since I’m in parliament and the term is expiring I thought I’d wait until our term was over.

I’ve been in politics for quite some time now and I think it’s time that I take time off and do something which is more relaxing and more personally satisfying.

What are you going to be doing with your free time?

Right now I have many thoughts. I’ll probably do some charity work. Maybe work as an activist to make Majlis more accountable because of my experience. Just a thought.

Personally I am thinking of doing something more relaxing, to be truly away from politics, but there’s a lot of pressure on me from friends and peers not to give it up all together.

To be somehow or the other involved in politics in a different way. Away from mainstream politics. I may be doing that but I haven’t given it serious consideration.

How do you think the preparation for the parliamentary elections has been going so far?

Well, I am only hoping that it’s going to be free and fair elections this time like the presidential elections. So far it has been. Except for the fact that I’m not too happy with the president and his cabinet colleagues actively involved in campaigning for the government candidates. That is not right and it’s not fair.

What do you think about the parliamentary candidates, especially those who lack experience?

It is to some extent a concern. I am not undermining these candidates or their capacity because all of us when we first come into parliament didn’t have the experience. But there’s a difference between the way activists should function and how MPs should function.

I’m only hoping the voters will make the distinction to check between those who can, who do have the capacity to perform as MPs, as responsible MPs and those who are only activists.

I’m not saying all activists are not suitable, I’m not saying that at all. It’s just that there are people who can adapt themselves as MPs and there are others who in my view cannot. But please keep it in mind that I’m not undermining any of the candidates.

In terms of voting, what do you think people vote for? Personality or issues?

Voters have not been educated properly. Until now the constituents say every individual MP should be working for the welfare of an individual constituent rather than for the constituency.

They feel that it’s for their personal benefits, like supporting them for medical treatment rather than expressing their views in parliament and trying to legislate for their benefit. So in that way people have still not accepted that that is actually the role of an MP.

That’s going to take time I think, we have to educate voters. We have to change. We have brought in a liberal democracy to the country and we need to promote that and maintain that rather than function in the way we were doing earlier.

How do you think the party campaigns have been going so far? Do you think there is a lot of negative campaigning?

There is a lot of that happening. I am only hoping that this is very temporary and in the next elections, I am hoping we won’t see this. I think it’s because of the sudden change that we’ve brought in. People were not prepared for it. Those who are actually bringing change and those who are the beneficiaries of change. It’s just too sudden and too much all in one go.

I want to believe that is why things are in pretty bad shape right now. There’s a lot of money politicking, which I for one never believe in. In the two terms that I actually campaigned, I never spent money. In the sense that I have never given people any money.

I have helped them but never given them cash. That’s something I don’t believe in and I don’t think is right. And also these personal allegations, unfounded allegations. It’s very wrong. You’re not trying to assassinate the character of the opponent.

What do you think about the number of women contesting in the elections?

It’s not a good number when there are so many hundreds of people campaigning. As things are I still feel the status of women in the Maldives in the nineties and early 2000 actually did come up and you could see more women in public life, but we are regressing.

I feel it’s partly because of the extreme views of our religious people. Well I think the influence of fundamental Islam. People are afraid. When we were in school you never questioned religion. Maldivians generally are not quite certain of what Islam is all about.

What I’m trying to say is that they don’t know much about the religion but when it comes to certain religious views, you don’t question them. And these people, these religious scholars who are preaching in the country now also don’t have a very broad view of Islam, they know very little. They feel Islam is a religion of rituals only but it’s not. It’s much broader. It’s a very enlightened faith.

What do you think needs to be done to encourage women to take a more active role in politics and in public life?

There’s been a lot of rhetoric on it, but in actual fact there are many restrictions on women candidates. For instance financial support, especially these days when there’s so much of money politicking.

Women don’t have that the wealth so they need to be supported, financially supported and also their families will have to give them support. Unless they have an understanding and supportive husband, it’s going to be difficult.

And then again the whole attitude, the mindset of people will need to be changed. We still have the majority of the people with the mindset that women can’t perform in public in the same way as men and women don’t have the intelligence or the capacity to be members of parliament or public figures.

It’s not only among men, it’s also among women. And also that by coming into public life you’re not disgracing yourself, that is something again.

Like in my case, I have short hair, I’m called a man. Even now, practically everyday I’ll get one or two SMSs abusing me because I talk like a man in Majlis, I behave like a man because I’m out in public and because I have short hair. They don’t realise I have short hair for convenience. I don’t behave like a man, I don’t want to be a man and I don’t feel as if I’m masculine.

Check back on Minivan News for the second part of the interview when Aneesa discusses the future of the DRP and whether ex-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom should step down as party leader.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Since the Employment Act was ratified in 2008, the issue of labour rights has been much-debated in the Maldives.

A series of strikes at the end of last year brought to the surface the many cracks in the legislation and highlighted the failure of many employers to implement the rights enshrined in the Act.

In a historic move, the government decided to seek membership of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to ensure labour rights are upheld.

Tine Staermose, director of the Sri Lankan branch of the ILO, talks to Maryam Omidi about the future of employment rights in the Maldives.

How would you describe the current situation with regards to labour rights in the Maldives?

My feeling over the last three years is that concerned and relevant parties in both the past and current governments are very committed to come aboard the ILO. With the new constitution fundamental labour rights are enshrined.

What are missing are the institutions. We need to ensure the labour tribunal is equipped as soon as possible and the ILO needs to assist the country in creating trade unions.

The government is in full support of building up civil society and trade unions. But there’s no knowledge of how they function. There’s no law.

How will the ILO help?

What the ILO will do is send experts down as a matter of urgency. The experts will lay down the structure for a tripartite labour governance where workers and employers come together with the government.

In the ILO, strikes are the last resort. What is really important is social dialogue; a space or a platform which is ruled by certain regulations. The rules of the game have to be put in place.

Just becoming a member of the ILO is not the same as getting the rules and regulations, and our experts will help with this.

What’s extremely important is that the consultation includes all the relevant parties and it’s open, transparent and facilitated so that there’s genuine dialogue. We need to remove misperceptions about what others think or want.

The country needs to be assisted in fulfilling its economic potential. Having jobs in the ILO framework is not enough. We are talking about having decent jobs.

There are four pillars in the ILO: there are fundamental workers’ rights, social protection and employment promotion, and these are glued together with social dialogue.

The real issues at stake are, for example, working conditions, wages, working hours, occupational safety and health. All these things need to be legislated for and right now, they’re not.

We need to carry out a gaps analysis to find out what legislation is missing.

We also need to train the labour tribunal and provide guidance to the judiciary.

How will the ILO resolve complaints?

It’s a very efficient system where both employers and employees can file a complaint with the ILO.

And if the government fails to enforce the labour law, they will have to answer to an ILO board. We don’t have any sanction areas, we only have moral pressure, but I can tell you it’s very strong.

How will this affect the tourism industry?

We will work with resort owners. It may be that profit will shrink in the first period but over time, employers will realise the benefits of having a satisfied workforce.

One of the things we need to know more about is the capabilities of the workers.

Maybe the government will need to improve the competence of its own workforce so that it can compete for better jobs in the resorts.

How will this affect expatriate workers?

Migrant workers will have the same rights as locals but we can’t address them without putting the legislation in place first.

When will the first phase begin?

I have put a lot of urgency on this because the opportunity is here and there are expectations.

If it goes slowly, the expectations will sour and so I think it’s important to act pretty fast.

How long will the process take?

It will be a matter of time before we see good practices. But we have to be content that there’s a very committed president.

It doesn’t take a million dollars, just technical experts and time

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Since the Employment Act was amended to include the tourism industry in October, the sector has come under heavy scrutiny.
A series of strikes from workers protesting for their labour rights, which they claimed had not been implemented since the revision of the Act, has brought to light both the flaws in the legislation but also the dissatisfaction felt by many employees.
Most notably, a strike held on 28 November at the One and Only Resort by over 200 staff ended in violence after police clashed with workers.
On the fourth day of the strike, the government intervened to reach a settlement, which President Mohamed Nasheed described as a “breakthrough”.
Sim Ibrahim Mohamed from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) talks to Minivan News about the state of the tourism industry and how recent strikes have cost the industry millions of dollars.

What do you think about the strikes that have taken place?
It’s really sad because these people who are striking have now become activists. But there are people with vested interests who are working behind the scenes.
It’s people who want to bring down the government and also hurt the tourism industry. We know the people involved but we don’t want to engage with them. We want to resolve this issue amicably. We want to remove the ambiguities within the law. That’s all we are trying to do.
The entrepreneurs that are investing in tourism have rights too. Just in the same way workers have rights. This has been forgotten because it’s the workers who are making a lot of noise. They were not justified in what they did because there is a grievance procedure. If you study the situation then you will see the management also had some complaints but these were not heard.

Are you satisfied with the settlement brokered by the government?
We are not happy with the resolution reached because the government has been held hostage, the management has been held hostage and the entire tourism industry has been held hostage. If these people are party to the MoU, it gives too much recognition to these kinds of actions. It justifies this kind of action on private property. They have caused damage to the property.
We have heard from the management that they have thrown sand at mothers. They have also damaged property, breaking and entering into the living quarters of the general manager’s family home. They also threatened tourists and really frightened and intimidated them by going into the eating areas at meal times. So these are some issues that we have heard about but MATI can’t vouch for these because we were not there.

How have the strikes affected the tourism industry?
Several people have cancelled their holidays at One and Only Reethi Rah but also in the Maldives. The damage caused by this kind of act is very hard to estimate but it’s in the millions.
And it’s going to take more millions to put this right in terms of damage control and reputation. The Maldives is no longer a safe destination; this is how people will perceive it now. But we have had setbacks like this before such as the tsunami and we have come through them.

Do you think the Employment Act was flawed?
Strikes are good and they exist in all countries. But we need to have provisions within the Employment Act to regulate these things. We must also insure that we protect ownership rights and the rights of the employer. The Employment Act was flawed. The constitution of the Maldives is very ambiguous. It says people can go on strike but it doesn’t say how or where.

How do you think recent events will change employer-employee relations?
There will be a greater distinction between the two. Much greater than exists at the moment. Things are different now because there are many family-owned resorts and there’s a bond between some of the workers who have been there for a long time and their employers.
Once we go by the letter of the law then it will be a different situation. It will be more professional which is good, but there will be more of a distance than in the current employer-employee relationship.

How is the global financial crisis affecting the tourism industry?
The financial crisis is not affecting us much yet but it will affect tourism from April next year. This is because people have already paid for their holidays for this year. But people developing resorts have found it difficult to continue because there is a squeeze of credit. It’s become very hard to borrow money to invest.
There are around 40 resorts that have been leased to be developed and for obvious reasons they have had difficult in finding finance and so the industry has not expanded because of this. We have to create investor confidence in the Maldives especially in funding institutions.
They have to think it’s a good place for people to invest and make money. Obviously it’s a huge task. Confidence building is a huge task. It’s not like building something with bricks and mortar.

What do you think of the government proposal to increase resort leases to 50 years?
We want an increase of 15 years and this has been spun in many ways. This has been distorted by politicians who are claiming erroneously that we want 50 years. What we are asking for is an extension of 15 years because of circumstances outside our control, such as the current global financial market and the time it will take for us to recover from the crisis.
We think that if we can get these leases it will be an incentive for new businesses to come to the country. If we don’t get the leases most people will pack up and leave. People need to know there will be enough of a return on their investment.

Do you think bed rents should be standardised? [Beds at resort today are leased at a rate of up to US$16,000 whereas the first resorts that opened up pay about US$2000. Many argue that bed rents should be standardised.]

There are contracts that are in place and if we were to break these contracts it would be a disservice to those who have bid and won those beds and it’s very likely that some of them would sue the government. The best way for the government to enhance their income is to tax the industry on profits. We are happy to pay taxes.
In all business everywhere in the world, there’s something called prior rates for those who were there before everyone else because they took the risk of investing. They were the pioneers. This happens all over the world.
I think it’s very fair because they have taken huge risks to make their business grown from nothing. If they are to be penalised because they are successful now then it’s a disservice. The new government are cashing in on the success on the first investors and that’s not right.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)