Author: Mohamed Saif Fathih

Majlis security committee recommends dismissal of interim LGA chair

With additional reporting by Daniel Bosley

The Majlis national security committee has recommended the removal Shujau Hussain from the Local Government Authority (LGA) board, say media reports.

In a sitting held today, the committee decided to suspend Shujau from the board after reviewing complaints regarding disciplinary issues submitted by other board members against him, though further details have not been revealed.

Shujau says he has not been officially informed of the decision but suggested that the rules of procedure for his suspension could not have been followed as the full Majlis is not in session to approve the move.

“I believe I am still in charge of the LGA,” said Shujau – the public’s appointee to the board.

Shujau claimed to have become interim leader of the LGA late last week as he and four of the board’s nine members passed a no-confidence motion against association chair and Minister of Defence Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim.

He had previously proposed the motion late last month, arguing that Nazim had refused to table the issue at the time.

Following the meeting on Thursday, however, Nazim was reported as saying that his removal had breached LGA procedures, telling media that an investigation into Shujau’s ethical conduct was under way.

Committee member General Ibrahim Didi told Minivan News that he did not believe the decision taken by the committee today was in line with the correct procedures, although he declined to discuss the details of the meeting itself.

“Whatever they do, they have to complete the full procedure – they have to question the person concerned. They did not do that today,” said Didi.

The decision to suspend Shujau was reportedly taken with a majority of six votes from the ruling coalition. Two members, one from opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and Jumhooree Party (JP) voted against his suspension and removal, said

The composition of the committee is five seats for ruling Progressive Party of Maldives, three seats for MDP, two seats for JP, and one seat for Maldivian Development Alliance.

Formed under the 2010 Decentralisation Act, the LGA is tasked with overseeing and coordinating the work of the Maldives’ 199 city, atoll, and island-level councils.

Both Shujau and Malé City Councillor Shamau Shareef have expressed concern that Nazim – also acting minister of health – was not working to protect decentralisation in the country.

“He is not standing up to protect the system,” Shamau told Minivan News last month, arguing that Nazim had failed to protect Malé City Council from persistent reduction of its powers.


Related to this story

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High Court frees drug kingpin Shafaz citing insufficient evidence

The High Court has freed ‘drug kingpin’ Ibrahim Shafaz Abdul Razzak today, stating that evidence submitted by the state for trafficking charges was insufficient.

Reversing the Criminal Court’s 18 year jail term and fine of MVR75,000, the High Court questioned the authenticity of documents submitted by the state claiming to prove Shafaz had transferred large amounts of money gained through drug trafficking.

Shafaz was arrested in June 2011 with 896 grams of heroin after the two year long ‘Operation Challenge’. At the time, the Maldives Police Services labeled Shafaz a high profile drug dealer suspected of smuggling and supplying drugs since 2006.

The police claimed Shafaz’s network had smuggled drugs worth MVR1.3 million (US$84,306) to the Maldives between February and April 2011.

In today’s ruling, the High Court noted that the state had failed to provide transaction records to substantiate claims that Shafaz transferred large sums of money to a Sri Lankan national through Western Union and A.G.E Emporium, and that  records from Western Union did not display any official seals or marks.

The court also said the state had failed to provide proof that evidence gathered regarding Shafaz’s money transactions was obtained legally, i.e. through court orders.

Additionally, the court noted that records of money transactions were dated from 2006, but phone call recordings and transcripts between Shafaz and the Sri Lankan national were from 2011, with the result that the relationship between the two pieces of evidence was weak.

Citing Article 24, Article 51, and Article 52 of the Constitution which guarantee the right to privacy including private communications and the rights of the accused, the High Court said any evidence obtained by unlawful means is inadmissible in a court of law.

Corruption charges

The Criminal Court had sentenced Shafaz in November 2013. He was released temporarily for medical treatment in Sri Lanka in February 2014, but failed to return to the Maldives after the allocated three month period. The Sri Lankan police caught Shafaz in Colombo and extradited him to Maldives in May 2014.

Last month, the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed that six senior government officials conspired to allow Shafaz to leave the country despite no evidence that he required urgent medical care that was not available in the Maldives.

The ACC investigation found that former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Hanim personally paid a visit to a doctor’s home to obtain a signature confirming that Shafaz required urgent medical care abroad. However, the ACC said Shafaz had not consulted a doctor in the week before his release.

Hanim, who is now the deputy minister of environment, also oversaw the illegal preparation of Shafaz’s travel documents and allowed him to leave the country without obtaining formal approval from the Maldives Correctional Service’s (MCS) medical board.

The investigations also revealed former Commissioner of Prisons Moosa Azim had lobbied the medical board to approve Shafaz’s release despite knowing his paperwork was incomplete.

In addition to Hanim and Azim, the ACC has recommended corruption charges be filed against two members of the medical board, a technical officer at Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), and a staff member at the MCS.


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“I am not trembling” says Gasim after reports of imminent police raid on his home

Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim has responded to reports his home will be raided by police by saying:  “I am not trembling”.

Speaking to local media outside his residence, Maamigili MP Gasim stated he was willing to work with anyone who stands to defend the Constitution and that despite threats and pressure he will always stand firm.

Gasim – who chaired the Special Majlis which formulated the 2008 Constitution – also stated that he would not stop any state authority from doing its duty, saying that he was currently waiting at Maafannu Villa to facilitate the police force if they are to come.

As crowds gathered outside Gasim’s residence this afternoon awaiting the raid, confusion spread over the existence of a court warrant for the search with police saying there was no truth to the rumours.

Police have, however, confirmed that a warrant had been obtained to search a property in Maafannu early this morning, which they later discovered to belong to the Minister of Defence Mohamed Nazim.

JP spokesman Ahmed Sameer told Minivan News that the party is not aware of the reason Gasim’s residence would be targetted, saying that Gasim has nothing to hide and that he does all his work in a transparent and democratic manner.

“This is political, there is nothing else to this,” Sameer stated.

Minivan News was unable to obtain a response from either the Criminal Court media officials or Gasim himself at the time of publication.

Sameer also said that the government has ordered that a plot of land leased to Gasim’s Villa TV (VTV), in Kaafu Thilafushi, be handed back.

“The rent is being paid as per the agreement but the government is arbitrarily taking over property for political reasons without any regard to constitutional rights and freedoms,” Sameer said.

The JP has accused political enemies of being behind a number of setbacks for Gasim’s business interests last year, as well as death threats he received.

In one instance, the international status of Maamigili airport was removed for less than a month in August as Gasim opposed the government’s flagship SEZ bill in the Majlis. Gasim later reversed his stance on the bill, with the JP issuing a three-line whip in support of the legislation.

Defence minister’s residence raided

In a brief press conference held at Iskandar Koshi this afternoon, Chief Inspector of Police Mohamed Shifan stated that two apartments on the 8th floor of a house were raided under a court warrant at approximately 3.30am this morning.

“When police searched one of the two apartments of the house, police personnel involved in the operation discovered that the house was resided in by Minister of Defence and National Security Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim”.

Therefore in light of the discovery, the raid was conducted by giving full consideration and respect to Nazim, police said.

Police also noted that some items needed for the police investigation were confiscated from one of the apartments and that police “applied appropriate force” to enter the house.

Police did not allow journalists to ask any further questions during the press conference.

Haveeru subsequently reported that the police officers who requested the court warrant for Nazim’s residence have been summoned to the court for further clarification on the matter.

Nasheed vows to defend Gasim

Speaking at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally in the capital Malé last weekend, former president Mohamed Nasheed said that, despite their political differences, he would not allow President Abdulla Yameen to destroy the JP leader Gasim.

“Gasim’s property cannot be looted. Gasim’s character and body cannot be harmed,” he told supporters at the Alimas Carnival ground. “We shall rally in his defense”.

The speech continued a warming of relations between the opposition MDP and Gasim’s JP, which had allied with the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) against Nasheed in 2013 to secure the presidency for Yameen.

Indeed, MDP Chairperson Ali Waheed and Vice President Mohamed Shifan flanked Gasim as he spoke to the media outside his home this afternoon.

Following calls from Nasheed to work with the JP in defence of the Constitution last week, the party’s Deputy Leader Ameen Ibrahim expressed gratitude to the MDP leader.

“The JP parliamentary group has decided to do the necessary to defend the Constitution. Very happy that President Nasheed has decided to travel with us in the same boat,” tweeted Ameen.

Recently, the ruling coalition member Maldivian Development Alliance MP Mohamed Ismail proposed an amendment to Article 109 of the Constitution seeking to bar individuals aged 65 years and above from standing for the presidency.

The move would end the presidential ambitions of the JP leader, who will be 66-years-old in 2018.


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Decision on deputy principals yet to be made: Education Ministry

Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education Dr Abdulla Muhsin has said that no decision regarding deputy principals has yet been implemented.

“I cannot confirm nor deny that a decision has been made regarding the post of deputy principals, the ministry is evaluating the impacts of a decision”, said Muhsin.

Following reports that the ministry was introducing new criteria for the post of deputy principals, Muhsin stated the ministry has asked schools to fill forms regarding the responsibilities, qualifications, and other work related aspects of deputy principals.

He also noted that it has not come to the point where the ministry must make announcements regarding the post of deputy principals.

Local media reported that under the new criteria set up by the ‘Staff Requirement 2015’ an individual must have completed at least a Bachelors degree to qualify the post of deputy principal.

Further, it has been reported that the ministry decided that just one deputy principal would be assigned to schools with between 500 to 999 students, and that only schools with more than 1000 students would be allowed to have two deputy principals.

Meanwhile Sun Online reported that Deputy Education Minister Azleen Ahmed described the decision to restructure the school management structure in such a way that deputy principals are assigned to schools in accordance with the population is “a strategic change to the education system”.

State Minister of Education Dr Abdulla Nazeer, speaking to state television last month, said that the ministry’s aim was to eradicate the deputy principal level in the organisational structure in order to bring the principals closer to the teachers.

The government subsequently reversed the decision followed opposition Maldivian Democratic Party along with the Teachers Association of Maldives (TAM) leading a public outcry against the move.

“The majority of the deputy principals are performing administrative level tasks at the school which should be done by administrative officers instead. We want to task the deputy principals with more academic related work,” said Nazeer.

Speaking to Minivan News regarding the implementation of the new curriculum last week, former Education Minister Shifa Mohamed expressed concern over the government’s “indecisiveness and lack of consistency” with regards to changes brought to the school management structure, claiming the government had decided to remove the post of deputy principals and leading teachers, who play a decisive role in implementing the new curriculum.

“Deputy principals and leading teachers did not have the guarantee that they would have a job by the start of the academic year. That will surely affect their performance,” said Shifa.

Aside from the proposed changes to teachers’ roles, the government announced this month that teachers’ salaries would be increased by 35 and 15 percent depending on the qualification they held.

Discontent at low salaries was among a number of grievances that brought the TAM to within hours of striking before the government agreed to begin negotiations last September.


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Former Nasheed employees deny media claims of excessive PR spending

Additional reporting by Zaheena Rasheed

Former members of President Mohamed Nasheed’s press team have denied charges of ‘excessive’ spending on PR during his term, arguing the Maldives had enjoyed an enviable international reputation on democracy, human rights, and the environment.

Yesterday (January 14), Haveeru published an article titled ‘Excessive state expenditure on President Nasheed’s film and press team’, claiming the President’s Office had spent MVR2.86 million (US$185,000) on three British employees.

According to Haveeru, the President’s Office spent MVR1.16 million on Communications Advisor Paul Roberts, MVR1.05 million on lawyer Jude Laing and MVR650,000 on Climate Change Advisor Mark Lynas.

Sun Online also reported having obtained the same documents this week (January 13).

Responding to questions regarding President Abdulla Yameen’s frequent trips abroad, President’s Office Spokesman Ibrahim Muaz told Minivan News the day before (January 12) that he would gladly comply with the spirit of the Information Act: “even if president Nasheed’s travel expenses and information on how many foreigners he employed, paid by the state, was requested”.

The President’s Office was not responding to calls at the time of publication.

Roberts has today said he had been employed with the press team under former Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair for a monthly salary of MVR29,000 in 2009 and MVR34,000 from 2010 onwards.

“During President Nasheed’s tenure, the Maldives achieved an enviable international reputation, and was widely hailed internationally as a beacon of democracy and human rights. The country and its president also became leading global voices in the fight against climate change,” he said in an email.

Roberts noted that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom had employed PR firm Hill and Knowlton at a total cost of MVR26 million (US$1.6 million) while Nasheed’s successor Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan hired Ruder Finn for a reported MVR2.3 million (US$150,000) per month.

Lynas – author of prize winning book ‘Six Degrees: Our future on a hotter planet’ – said he had worked pro bono for Nasheed during the first few months of his appointment as Climate Change Advisor in 2009 before later being paid a small stipend of US$950.

In an email to Minivan News, he said his responsibilities included providing scientific advice on the latest evidence and projections for climate change impacts, and suggestions on how the Maldives could further its international climate advocacy work on plans to become carbon neutral by 2020.

For the duration of his posting, Lynas was based in Oxford, UK. However, he attended various climate meetings as a Maldives climate advisor – including UN negotiations in South Africa, Mexico, Chile, Malawi, and Samoa.

“During the period of my employment, under President Nasheed’s administration, the Maldives was one of the most visible nations in the world in terms of diplomacy and influence in climate change,” Lynas said.

“Unfortunately, events since then have shown that other political leaders and forces do not share basic values of human rights, democracy and freedom of the press – sadly this has undermined the country’s reputation on the international stage, on climate change as well as other issues.”

Haveeru also said it had obtained documents that show the President’s Office bore the expenses of the San Francisco based Actual Film crew during the filming of the ‘Island President’.

The award winning documentary was produced at a cost of US$1.5 million with funds from the Ford Foundation, the Sundance Institute, American Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Atlantic Foundation.

The paper did not reveal the amount spent on the crew of Actual Films, but said leaked documents did not reveal details of the expenses born by the state.

Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party suggested responses to this week’s media coverage should be obtained from the individuals concerned. Minivan News is awaiting a reply from Actual Films and Jude Laing.


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Government announces completion of all tsunami housing units

The government has announced the completion of all housing units constructed by the state for people made homeless in the 2004 tsunami disaster.

In a joint press conference held today by the housing and finance ministries, Minister for Housing and Infrastructure Dr Mohamed Muizzu declared that 298 housing units in four islands in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, and 41 housing units in Thaa Madifushi have now been completed.

Muizzu stated that the government had taken direct control of the project last November on the decision of President Abdulla Yameen following numerous attempts to negotiate with the contractors regarding the delays in work.

On the ninth anniversary of the disaster in December 2013, Yameen had pledged to complete permanent housing for all the 427 families who remained homeless.

Muizzu did not reveal whether new private contractors had been brought in to complete the unfinished work, saying only that there would be no “legal problems in any of the work the government has directly been involved in”.

He also stated that the government took over the project after seeking legal advice from the attorney general and noted that the Anti Corruption Commission and the auditor general were invited to review the proceedings.

Finance minister Abdulla Jihad stated that Vimla Construction Pvt Ltd was awarded a US$20 million contract in October 2008 to build the housing units in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll for completion within 14 months. Jihad said that approximately US$16.6 million had been spent up to now.

He also noted that the delays and the need for the government to become directly involved in the completion of the housing units meant the projects were likely to cost more than expected, although the full amount has not yet been determined.

“STO has supplied substantial amounts, we estimate that the value (of supplies by STO) will be a significant sum,” Jihad said.

The finance ministry’s audit report of 2011 revealed that it had spent MVR17.5 million to transport materials for the construction of the tsunami housing units in Gaafu Dhaalu. The audit report noted that the expenses, which were not included in the finance ministry’s budget, should not have been paid.

Further, the audit report also recommended a specific audit be done and a report published on the tsunami housing units contracted to Vimla Construction.

The 2004 tsunami resulted in 82 deaths and 26 missing persons in the Maldives. Figures from the UN show that the disaster displaced nearly 10 percent of the Maldives’ population, severely damaging a quarter of inhabited islands with 14 completely evacuated.


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LGA board vote to remove Chairperson Nazim

The Local Government Authority has voted to remove Chairperson Colonel (retired) Mohamed Nazim and Vice President Moosa Naseer.

Five of the nine board members supported a no-confidence motion against Nazim, who is also minister of defence and acting health minister.

The five board members took the vote after having refused to leave today’s board meeting following Nazim’s failure to table a no-confidence motion against himself.

“We can conduct the meeting without the board president being there,” explained member Shujau Hassan. “It is allowed for in our rules of procedure.”

Malé City Councillor and LGA board member Shamau Shareef explained that Nazim had insisted the agenda for yesterday’s cancelled meeting be attended to before any other issues were addressed.

Shamau noted that Nazim had prevented the board taking a no-confidence vote against him in December. He had previously explained to Minivan News that a binding resolution to do so had been signed by four members on December 24.

He stated today that five board members, including himself and Hussain Naseer, Hussain Hilmy, Ibrahim Rasheed, and Shujau Hassan refused to adjourn the meeting, requesting LGA officials write to the attorney general for advice.

Shamau expressed concern that Nazim was not working to protect local government in the country while “the government is dismantling the whole system of decentralisation”.

Both Nazim – appointed to the board by President Abdulla Yameen, and Moosa Naseer will continue to hold positions on the LGA board. Nazim referred any media queries to LGA’s media coordinator Mohamed Azmeen.

Azmeen said that today’s meeting had been halted after disagreements between the chair and members over the agenda. He had confirmed that the board was to decide on how to proceed with the issue after the attorney general’s advice, but was not responding to calls following the board’s subsequent dismissal of Nazim this afternoon.

Formed under the 2010 Decentralisation Act, the LGA is tasked with overseeing and coordinating the work of the Maldives’ 199 city, atoll, and island-level councils.

The LGA board is required under the act with ensuring that “the work and activities of the councils created under this Act is functioning in accordance with the Constitution, this Act, and other Laws”.

The original Decentralisation Act assigns a number of services and lands to the councils, though failure to make amendments to relevant legislation – particularly the Land Act and the Finance Act – has led to contradiction in the current laws.

Concerns over the government’s plans for decentralisation prompted councils from the country’s southernmost atolls to sign a pact to defend the system last month.

The Medheaari Declaration – signed by the Gaaf Dhaalu, Gaaf Alifu, and Fuvahmulah atoll councils, and Addu City Council – called upon the government to protect decentralisation, as well as making plans to secure the fiscal autonomy of the signatories.

This article was updated shortly after its original publication to include the board’s decision to pass the no-confidence motion against Chairperson Nazim.


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MDP appeals committee backs decision to expel MP Moosa

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) appeals committee has ruled in favour of the party’s decision to expel Majlis Deputy Speaker and Hulhu Henveiru MP Reeko Moosa Manik.

Although Moosa has described the disciplinary committee’s decision as “discriminatory”, the appeals committee found no evidence that any other MPs had defied the party whip more than once, claiming that Moosa had done so on five occasions.

The party’s decision to expel Moosa was prompted by his failure to attend the Majlis for the vote to remove two Supreme Court judges last month. Five other MDP members who failed to follow the party’s instructions to vote against the removal were asked only to issue a public apology.

The appeal committee’s report’s noted that Moosa had violated the parliamentary group’s three-line whip on four other votes in December, listing them as: voting to consider and then to accept amendments to the Judicature Act, voting to pass the 2015 state budget, and voting to amend the Import Export Act.

Moosa admitted to all but one of the charges investigated by the committee. He denied having received the whip notice for the Import Export Act vote.

Moreover, the report stated that harsher penalties in accordance with the frequency of the offences cannot be considered discriminatory or unfair and that Moosa had admitted to intentionally violating the three-line whip regarding the removal of Chief of Justice Ahmed Faiz and Supreme Court Justice Muthasim Adnan in his appeal letter to party Chairperson Ali Waheed.

The five-member appeals committee – comprising Fareesha Abdulla, Mohamed Mahir Easa, Hassan Zahir, Nazil Afeef, and Hassan Latheef – unanimously agreed there was no basis to bring any changes to the decision taken by the disciplinary committee with regards to Moosa.

Moosa was dismissed on December 22 after the MDP National Council had asked the party’s disciplinary committee to take stern action against MPs who violated the three-line whip in the vote in the controversial Supreme Court judges vote.

The Majlis decision has been deemed unconstitutional by multiple local and international groups including the Maldives’ own Civil Court.

According to the decision by the disciplinary committee if Moosa wishes to rejoin the party, he is required to issue a public apology and obtain 50 new members for the party, but he will be barred from standing for any leadership position or contesting in party primaries for five years.

Moosa’s response

Responding to the appeals committee, Moosa said that the decision to expel him and to bar him from contesting in the MDP’s internal elections is in contradiction of articles 26 (b), 90 (a) and 109 (a) of the Constitution.

Article 90 states that “No member or other person shall be liable to any proceedings in any court, and no person shall be subject to any inquiry, arrest, detention or prosecution, with respect to anything said in, produced before, or submitted to the People’s Majlis or any of its committees, or with respect to any vote given if the same is not contrary to any tenet of Islam”.

Article 26 defines the rights to vote and contest in elections, and Article 109 defines the requirements of an individual intending to run for the presidency.

Moosa reiterated his belief that the real reason for his dismissal from the party was his announcement that he intented to contest the MDP’s presidential primaries in 2018.

Also former chairperson and parliamentary group leader, Moosa has previously stated that he does not trust the party’s appeal process, but that he would not contemplate taking the party through the courts.

Reeko stated that he would proceed with the matter further after a decision by the Elections Commission, with which he has also lodged a complaint.

When asked previously why he chose to appeal the disciplinary committee’s decision through the MDP’s internal mechanisms despite having stated that he does not trust the party’s appeal process, Moosa asked: “What else is there to do? I would never take MDP to court, I would never do that”.


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We must once again rise up to defend the Constitition, says Nasheed

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader and former President Mohamed Nasheed has stated that the actions of the government are undermining the constitution.

Nasheed listed numerous decisions such as the removal of Supreme Court judges, “violations of the Public Finance Act”, “narrowing of fundamental freedoms and rights”, rising religious fundamentalism and extremism, and “isolation from the international world community”.

The MDP party president gave the brief statement before his departure to meet Prime Minister Ranil Wikramasinghe and officials from the new Sri Lankan administration after the surprise victory of Maithiripala Sirisena in last week’s presidential elections.

Nasheed noted that the United National Party (UNP) is a sister party to the MDP through the International Democratic Union and that it is a privilege that a like-minded political party is ruling in “our closest neighbor”, with countless cultural, family, and economic ties.

He also expressed confidence in positive assistance and aid from Sri Lanka to the Maldives in general terms, and particularly in consolidating democracy.

Nasheed said the 2008 Constitution is the symbol of the Maldivian people’s desire for a better Maldives, and that it was the result of much suffering and hard work by the Maldivian people.

He also called on all political parties, international partners, NGOs, and all Maldivian citizens to show solidarity in rising up to defend the Constitution.

“My wish is especially for Jumhooree Party to join MDP and for Adhaalath Party to also be involved in this work”, Nasheed said.

Responding to questions from journalists on whether any official talks have been held between Jumhooree Party lead by MP Gasim Ibrahim and the MDP, Nasheed revealed that brief talks had been held between the two parties, though no further details were revealed.

The MDP currently holds 22 seats in the 85 member Majlis, while the JP has 13 MPs. The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) and its partner – the Maldivian Development Alliance – currently hold 48 seats.

After initially announcing that the party would remain neutral following Gasim’s defeat in the twice-held first round of the 2013 presidential elections, the JP’s council decided to endorse Abdulla Yameen three days before the second round, winning the Progressive Party of Maldives candidate the presidency.

However, the JP’s coalition agreement with the PPM was soon severed by the latter after Gasim stood for the post of parliament speaker in May last year. A purge of JP ministers was followed by the defection of two of the party’s cabinet member to the former ally.

After the MDP passed a resolution calling for Gasim to assume the presidency as an interim leader last month, the Prosecutor General Muhuthaz Muhsin ordered the Elections Commission to take all legal action possible against it, labelling the party “irresponsible”.

Following the Supreme Court judges removal and the MDP’s resolution, local NGO Transparency Maldives released a statement expressing “grave concern” at the trend of undemocratic practices in the country.


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