Author: Mariyath Mohamed

Adhaalath Party called on government not to negotiate with GMR, disrupt “national jihad” of airport nationalisation

The religious Adhaalath Party called on President Mohamed Waheed Hassan and other coalition parties to not conduct any communication with Indian infrastructure giant GMR which might disrupt the government’s push for airport nationalisation.

This call comes in connection with the visit of GMR’s Chairman, G M Rao, and board members on Thursday.

Local newspaper reported that Rao and the delegation arrived on a private jet on Thursday morning at 9:00am, and had departed by 2:50pm in the afternoon.

CEO of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), Andrew Harrison, told Minivan News that the visit was part of a regular bimonthly business review and unrelated to the current rhetoric.

“They was never any intention [for the delegation] to meet anyone from the government. Media got hold of the manifest and drew conclusions,” he said.

A statement released by Adhaalath Party on Thursday stated that it did not accept that the GMR board being in the Maldives was a “coincidence”. The party called on the political and civil members of the coalition, which it described as being on a “national jihad” to nationalise the airport, to be cautious about the visit and to “fear Allah” in the interest of the nation and its people.

President of the Adhaalath Party, Sheikh Imran Abdulla, on Wednesday rejected an invitation to meet with Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay. Imran is quoted in local media as saying that he did not accept the invitation because of “the current situation” regarding the GMR issue and because the High Commissioner had not explained the reasons behind the invitation.

Imran also said that his rejection was not based on animosity towards India, as the GMR issue was “only a disagreement between the Maldivian government and a private company”. He expressed his hope that the Indian government would not get involved in the matter.

A letter allegedly sent by GMR to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, requesting intervention by the Indian government, was reported to have been leaked in August.

The Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Ajit Singh has also spoken with the Maldivian government about settling the disputes regarding the GMR contract.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Azima Shakoor has asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the laws of the Maldives could be applied to the agreement with GMR concerning the development of INIA.

Airport CEO Harrison stated that the company saw no need to responding to nationalisation rhetoric aired in the media: “We’re waiting for the government to tell us what it wants. Otherwise its business as usual,” he said.

Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla was not responding to calls at the time of press.

Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay was also not responding to calls.

GMR won a 25 year concession agreement to develop and manage the airport during the Nasheed administration. The opposition at the time challenged the government’s privatisation and threatened to renationalise the airport should it come to power.

Following the controversial transfer of power on February 7, the unity government under President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has swung between issuing reassurances within diplomatic circles that Indian investments in the country would be protected, while locally stepping up nationalisation rhetoric.

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Minister of Islamic Affairs calls for “restraint” over anti-Islamic film

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has held a public meeting to condemn the tarnishing of the Prophet Mohamed’s character in anti-Islamic films.

“This meeting was organised to condemn the making of anti-Islamic movies which attempt to tarnish the Prophet Mohamed’s character,” explained Head of the Department of Religious Affairs, Moosa Anwar Hassan.

“We had a number of Islamic scholars speak at the meeting. They each covered one aspect of Prophet Mohamed’s exemplary character,” Hassan said.

Speakers at the meeting included Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali, Deputy Minister Mohamed Qubad AbuBakr, and State Minister Mohamed Didi, among others.

At the meeting, Shameem said although anger at the Prophet being mocked was justifiable, it had to be expressed in a calm manner through productive action. He shared an anecdote about American Muslims refraining from burning bibles even though an American priest had burned the Quran. He said they had instead distributed 1000 free copies of the Quran.

Shaheem said that this was a better cause of action in times of anger, calling it “a strategic and sensible decision.”

A crowd of protesters gathered in front of the UN Building last week, expressing anger after the release of the controversial movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’.

Speaking on the issue, Moosa Anwar Hassan told Minivan News today that the ministry would on no account encourage unrest, rioting or causing damage to property. He said the ministry calls on everyone to show restraint and control anger.

The National Bureau of Classification has announced that it is an offence to own or watch the offending movie on Tuesday, while the Communications Authority of Maldives has previously said it is working on blocking the offending video from being viewed in the country.

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Maldives bans controversial anti-Islamic movie

The National Classifications Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday announced a ban on watching or bringing in copies of the controversial “Innocence of Muslims” movie to the Maldives.

The NCB is reported as saying that watching or sharing the movie is an offence under the law defining material which is not allowed to be brought into the country (Act No. 4/74). Such material includes other contraband such as pork, alcohol, and religious items not for personal use.

According to Article 4 (a) of the said Act, bringing into the country, creating, owning, selling, sharing or spreading material which is against the principles of Islam is an offence. The penalty for the said offense, as defined in Article 13 (c) is a jail sentence, banishment or house arrest for a period between 3 to 8 years.

Meanwhile, the Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) has announced on Sunday that it is working to block the offending trailer from the online video sharing channel YouTube.

CAM Chief Executive Ilyas Ahmed said at the time that they were attempting to just block the video alone, instead of the site itself, as blocking YouTube was ‘not practical’.

Pakistan is reported in international media as having blocked access to YouTube in the country after the owners of the site refused to block the offending video.

Following similar protests across the globe, protesters in the Maldives gathered in front of the UN Building on Friday September 14. Protesters carried placards with messages ranging from “Maldives: future graveyard to Americans and Jews” to “May Allah curse America”.

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DRP calls on government to terminate GMR agreement “no matter the cost”, but without impacting public services

The Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) has advised President Mohamed Waheed Hassan to terminate the agreement with airport developer GMR “no matter the cost”, but asked the President to ensure public services were not affected.

The move follows a meeting between GMR’s Chairman, G M Rao, and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom at a hospital in India where Gayoom’s wife was being treated, during which Gayoom expressed concerns over the contract on behalf of Maldivian citizens, reports local media.

Attorney General Azima Shakoor also this week asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the laws of the Maldives could be applied to the government’s agreement with GMR concerning the development of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA).

Shakoor and three other cabinet ministers also held a press conference accusing the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) of “negligence” and behaving “irresponsibly” in its handling of the bid under the former government.

On Tuesday, DRP Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali told media of the contents of a letter sent by President Waheed to the party, informing it that, while the current agreement was not the most beneficial for the country, any attempt to terminate the agreement would result in a huge financial burden on the government.

According to Thasmeen, Waheed’s letter went on to say that, owing to the economic condition of the Maldives, it would be extremely difficult to make the payment of US$700 million needed to terminate the agreement with GMR.

Waheed further advised that cancelling the agreement may have negative effects on the perception of the Maldives as a favourable destination for foreign investors. It highlighted the President’s concerns about the impact such a move may have on foreign relations, specifically the country’s relationship with India.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad said he was not aware such a letter had been sent.

DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom told Minivan News that the party had earlier asked to the government to clarify the legality and validity of the agreement with GMR.

“If the agreement is not legally valid, then that is it. The airport will be back in the hands of the Maldivians. Even if it turns out to be a valid agreement, there is still an exit clause in it,” Mausoom said.

Mausoom said the party calls on the government to investigate whether there was any corruption in making the contract with GMR, and to have the concerned authorities look into any cases that may come up. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is currently investigating the deal.

“DRP holds on to the stand that we want the airport to be nationalised. All this loss is being caused by (former President) Nasheed’s blunder. We do not wish further hardship on the Maldivian people. So we call on the government to go ahead and pay whatever it takes to terminate the agreement with GMR. They must however first ensure that public services will not be adversely affected through this,” Mausoom said.

Dr Mausoom subsequently contacted Minivan News to clarify that the DRP “calls on the government to proceed fast in checking legality of the contract with GMR and to provide an assessment of financial and other costs of terminating the agreement. DRP’s council will then decide on future actions to be taken.”

Mausoom said the DRP’s council would come to a decision on a course of action based on the government’s response to the party’s concerns.

The seven political parties currently in the national unity government – apart from the DRP – held a press briefing on Monday, announcing that they were officially starting work to nationalise the airport.

Explaining DRP’s decision not to participate in the joint press briefing, Mausoom told Minivan News that he felt that “yelling in groups” would not lead to any productive results.

“These parties have just gone in front of cameras and said whatever might get them some media coverage and headlines. They have no common agreement and contradict each other. The things they say in these places are not verified, and often later proved wrong. We aren’t interested in being part of a circus or showing off. As a responsible party, we did not want to participate in the press event,” Mausoom explained.

He further said, “We aim to do things under due procedure, and have called on the government to proceed at speed with the work, through the relevant institutions. Our party works to achieve results with national interest as our priority”.

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Police signed housing scheme MoU without legal advice from AG office

The Attorney General’s Office stated Monday that the Maldives Police Service had not obtained legal advice from them before signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the police housing scheme.

The AG office told local media that they had commented on the draft MoU submitted by the MPS, informing them that some necessary information was missing. They had not heard back from the police on the matter. The AG office said it learned about the signing of the MoU only through media reports following the event.

However, Police Media Official Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News today that they had discussed with all relevant entities before signing the MoU.

When asked if the police had received or responded to the comments on the MoU sent by the AG office, Haneef said, “We have no further comments to make on whatever the AG office has to say. That’s up to them. Our official response is that we have sought legal advice from those we have to consult, as per the constitution.”

Maldives Police Services signed this MoU with the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) on 13th September 2012, according to media reports. The MoU was an agreement to build 300 flats in Hulhumale’ for the use of police officers.

Speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has said they hoped to complete the 300 flats within a span of two years.

Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has said that this was in accordance with President Waheed’s pledge upon assuming office of providing housing for police officers.

HDFC has also introduced a loan scheme for police officers in August, where officers can obtain loans to build houses owned by them.

Attorney General Azima Shukoor was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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Not much support from political parties to back one candidate in 2013 elections: ‘Madhanee Ihthihaadh’

‘Madhanee Ihthihaadh’, a coalition of NGOs, met with four of the smaller active political parties on Sunday to hold discussions regarding preparations for the 2013 presidential elections.

The smaller parties which attended this meeting were the Islamic Democratic Party (IDP), Maldives National Congress (MNC), Maldives social Democratic Party (MSDP) and People’s Party (PP).

According to the latest figures on the elections commission website, IDP has 3484 members, MNC has 1474, MSDP has 1897 and PP has 1730 members.

At a press conference held after the meeting, President of the NGO Coalition, Mohamed Didi, who is also the current Minister of State for Islamic Affairs, said that this was only the beginning of a series of meetings to come. He said that the meetings were centred around discussions in preparation for the 2013 presidential election.

“What we have been able to agree on so far is that we will continue having more meetings like this and that we can come up with more solutions on how to work together,” Didi said.

The NGO Coalition said today that there wasn’t much support from any political party for the idea of backing one single candidate in the 2013 elections. Didi also stated that they intended to continue discussing the idea with the larger political parties.

Vice President of the NGO Coalition and Minister of State for Home Affairs Abdulla Mohamed said that he believed larger parties were reluctant to back a common presidential candidate because each party had plans to have their own candidate run in the elections.

“We tried as hard as we could to get all the larger parties to back a common candidate, but we are not getting as much cooperation from this government’s coalition as we had initially assumed,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed however said that this decision by the parties was acceptable in a democratic society, and that the parties may be acting in line with the wishes of its’ members.

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom has previously said that there is a possibility that President Waheed could be PPM’s presidential candidate for 2013.

The current unity government has members from the President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s Gaumee Ihthihaadh Party (GIP), Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), People’s Alliance (PA), Jumhooree Party (JP), Adhaalath Party (AP), Qaumee Party (QP) and the NGO Coalition.

PPM, JP and DRP have been previously reported in local media expressing interest to bring out separate candidates for the 2013 presidential elections.

IDP, MNC and PP offices were not responding to call at the time of press. The contact number of MSDP listed in the Elections Commission website is disconnected.

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CAM working to block controversial ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Trailer

The Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) has said today that it is working to block the trailer of a film titled ‘Innocence of Muslims’ from being viewed in the Maldives.

The controversial film has been at the centre of perceived anti-American protests across the world. International media has reported that in certain cases, these protests have descended into violence, resulting in the deaths of a number of US nationals at certain embassies in Africa and the Middle East.

Addressing the availability of the trailer in the Maldives, CAM Chief Executive Ilyas Ahmed has said that the usual course of action in dealing with cases of offensive on-line content in the country was to block an entire website found to be hosting the material. However, since the trailer in this case was hosted on public video-sharing website YouTube, Ilyas said he was trying to find a way to block the video alone.

“Since YouTube is a popular site used by many people, it is not practical to block it. So instead of blocking YouTube, we are instead talking to Google first and trying to have this trailer alone blocked,” has was reported as telling local media.

Ilyas stated that this is the first time in the Maldives that content was being sought to be blocked in this manner. He added that the CAM had taken up the work after receiving a formal written request from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs.

The ministry had previously released a statement on Thursday (September 13) which called on people to show restraint, while condemning the movie.

Meanwhile, Adhaalath Party, the religious conservative party to which Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed belongs to also released a press statement the same day.  In the release, the party stated that the objective behind people being offensive to Islam was to drive millions of Muslims over the world to create unrest and do wrong.

The statement also asked protesters to refrain from causing harm to innocent people and damaging government or public property.

Crowds of people protested against the offensive movie ‘Innocence of Muslims’ in front of the UN Building on Friday.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed was not responding to calls at the time of press.

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‘SenaHiya’ Military Hospital officially opened by Indian Defense Minister

The ‘SenaHiya’ Military Hospital in Male’ was officially opened today at a ceremony inaugurated by Indian Defence Minister Shri A.K. Anthony.

Speaking at the ceremony, Anthony stated that the hospital was proof of the strong bond that exists between the two countries, adding that medical staff from the Indian Military would be permanently based on the newly opened site.

During his speech, Anthony spoke of the possibilities for the two countries to extend their existing defence collaboration in order to strengthen naval security and drug trafficking prevention.

Calling the construction of the hospital Anthony’s ‘dream project’, Minister of Defense and National Security Mohamed Nazim thanked the Indian defence minister for his role in getting the project completed.

“India and the Maldives share the same views and policies on a number of issues. India is also extending assistance in the areas of protecting the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone and intelligence information,” Nazim said.

Although the official opening ceremony was held today, MNDF officials have said that the ‘SenaHiya’ Hospital has been in service since late 2010.

Speaking to Minivan News, MNDF Spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem said that ever since the military had moved to the new building in Henveiru in Male’, it had been providing medical services for its officers.

“With the help of the Indian government in 2011, we gradually improved the services to that of a hospital. We have been providing hospital-quality services to security forces and their families since the beginning of the year,” he said.

Colonel Raheem added that the hospital presently provided services to MNDF and police officers, along with their families, while efforts were also being made to begin offering services to Immigration and Customs officers at the site at a later date.  Public services are also expected to be offered, according to the MNDF.

Minister Anthony’s current visit is said to have resulted from an invitation from his Maldivian counterpart, who requested he open the SenaHiya Military Hospital and also lay the foundation of the new MNDF training academy.

The ceremony came after a week in which the international media has played up the rapidly expanding relations between the Maldives and China, drawing attention to the potential geopolitical implications for neighbouring India.

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Protests over anti-Islamic movie spread to the Maldives

Crowds of protesters gathered in front of the UN building on Friday, protesting against the movie “Innocence of Muslims”, perceived as offensive to the Prophet Mohamed.

Similar protests have erupted across the Arab world following the release of video offensive to Muslims on the the video-sharing website, YouTube. The UK’s Guardian newspaper reported that the video was promoted by radical Islamophobic Christians in the US and then broadcast in Egypt by Islamic activists.

Protests have occurred in Iraq, Iran, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Jerusalem and the West Bank, Kashmir, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Nigerian city of Jos. The most serious incident was in Libya, where demonstrators killed US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three embassy employees by firing a rocket-propelled grenade at their car. British and German embassies have also been attacked.

On Friday in Male’, a leaflet was distributed inviting persons to the protest at 4:00pm, titled “In Protection of Prophet Mohamed”. The leaflet did not specify who the organisers of the protest were.

Police had cordoned off the area ahead of the time, and protesters initially gathered opposite Billabong International School. Placards were mostly in English, and had a range of messages expressing their anger against the movie and the US in general.

Some of the placards in the front row read: “Behead those who insult our Prophet”, “Our prophet is dearest to us than our mother”, “May Allah curse America”, and “Maldives: Future graveyard of Americans and Jews”.

In less than an hour protesters broke through police barricades, shoving police away angrily and approached the UN headquarters. The few police officers present cleared the entrance of the building, but let protesters remain right in front of it.

Female protesters remained at the far end of the road, near the Billabong school.

A US flag was set on fire, with protesters surrounding it chanting “Allah Akbar”. A number of speeches were made, accompanied with chants. Some of the most repeated chants include asking President Waheed to return America’s US$20,000 contribution to restore the historical Buddhist artifacts in the museum, which were destroyed by a mob of vandals during February’s political turmoil. Some protesters stated loudly that if the idols were restored, they would promptly destroy them again.

At one point, protesters demanded the resignation of Minister of Islamic Affairs, Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed.

A lecturer at the Maldives University, Sheikh Mohamed Thoyyib, was given protection by the police after his speech asking protesters to show patience and compassion like the Prophet enraged some of the people gathered there.

Young children accompanied some of the protesters, with some children and their parents holding toy guns in their hands.

The protest was adjourned in time for maghrib prayers, at around 6:30pm.

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs released a statement on Thursday condemning the movie. It stated that the enemies of Islam had always used tools of the times to insult the Prophet, but that such efforts would not at all harm the character of the Prophet, as he was held in high regard all over the world. The statement called on people to show restraint and to offer prayers for the Prophet.

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives also issued a press release today, stating that “Countless numbers of Muslims all around the world intensely revere the person of Mohamed, in fact they revere him more than their own lives, and therefore it is extremely offensive for them to defame Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).”

The Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs has meanwhile officially condemned the attacks on the US Embassy in Cairo and the US Consulate in Benghazi.

In a series of Tweets last night, the Maldives’ Islamic Adhaalath Party (AP) condemned the video, whilst urging Muslims not to resort to violence.

“AP strongly condemns the anti Islamic video ‘Innocence of Muslims’ which is highly provocative and highly insulting to Muslims,” said the party, before adding, “Islam forbids resorting to violence against innocents. We should not attack our foreign guests and/or foreign diplomatic offices.”

The protests come at the end of a week that has seen two visits from to the Maldives from both the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Michele J. Sison, and US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake.

Local media reported that threats were made against Sison during the protest.

There were also reports that the crowd had issued warnings against Commonwealth Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon who also visited the country this week to discuss the recently completed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) with leading politicians.

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