Author: Daniel Bosley

Stalemated all-party talks “ridiculous, a farce”, says Afeef

Progress continued to elude the participants in the All-Party Roadmap talks yesterday as the latest meeting ended in stalemate.

After repeated false starts since the first meeting on February 20, the talks stuttered after Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) representatives continued to question the make-up of the group engaged in the discussions, as well as the sincerity of the government’s statements over early elections.

One of the MDP’s representatives at yesterday’s meeting, former Home Minister Hassan Afeef, expressed doubts about the potential success of the roadmap talks.

“They are not interested in talking about political settlements, they are talking nonsense,” said Afeef.

“I don’t believe Mujuthaba [mediator of the talks] chose the parties [who were involved]… the old dictatorship chose it. I asked him how he had chosen the parties and he said he had chosen those who had been protesting against the MDP. It’s ridiculous, a farce,” continued Afeef.

The similarity of these statements with those following the first round of talks belies the lack of forward movement in the discussions.

An MDP statement after the first meeting explained the decision to boycott “when it became clear that the talks were to include political parties with no democratic mandate, and that they would focus on procedural issues such as the timing and venue for future talks – a clear effort to delay substantive discussions.”

The Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, which has been involved in the talks, does not have official representation in the parliament or on an elected council.

Under parliamentary regulations, MPs who joined Gayoom’s PPM from the Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) technically count as independent MPs until elected on a PPM ticket in the next parliamentary election.

Also representing the MDP at the meeting was the party’s interim chairperson Reeko Moosa Manik, who told Minivan News that “no concrete talking” took place at yesterday evening’s event. He also questioned the assembly and the motivations of the group.

Changing tack slightly, the MDP have now suggested that the talks should include all registered parties in the country, given the involvement of parties with no democratic mandate already participating.

“I have told Mujuthaba, ‘if all-party talks means all-party talks, then okay… if not, what are we doing?’” said Moosa.

PPM representative at the talks, Ilham Ahmed, told local paper Haveeru that the MDP had given no previous indication that they would be calling for greater inclusivity in the discussions. Ilham said that the proposal should be discussed as the MDP’s approach was “confusing”.

A press release from Mujuthaba’s office today stated that the main aim of yesterday’s talks remained the order the agenda. Mujuthaba told Haverru that no decisions had been made on the MDP’s new proposal.

The agenda was tentatively agreed upon at the second meeting at the end of February. The list included constitutional amendments, dates for early elections, and the potential changes needed for independent institutions. The order with which the agenda should be addressed was supposed to follow shortly after this.

The press release also said that all parties involved in the talks would meet with the United Nation’s observer at the talks. Mujuthaba is scheduled to be out of the country until April 24, prompting the convening of yesterday’s meeting.

The MDP’s blocking of President Waheed’s address to the People’s Majlis on March 1, however, saw the withdrawal from the talks of the DRP, PPM, Adhaalath Party and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP). The MDP contends that its disruption of the sitting was justified as Dr Waheed’s presidency was illegitimate, given police and military mutiny that led to Nasheed’s resignation.

Moosa also questioned the agenda of the talks, suggesting that the aim of the group was to legitimise the government rather than push for early elections.

Regarding the continued participation of the MDP in the talks, Afeef said that he personally did not think progress could be made, but said he would be prepared to represent his party in further talks if asked.

Moosa stated: “We are ready to talk about early elections, for that we are ready to talk.”

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‘Noon’ campaign targets VP’s business

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has continued its campaign against the businesses of those it alleges to be involved in financing a coup on February 7. Yesterday’s protests occurred outside the Shell Beans cafe, owned by the new Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen and his family.

The group continued its ‘Noon’ campaign (meaning ‘no’ in Dhivehi), gathering outside the popular restaurant on Male’s northern harbour front.

Former Education Minister Shifa Mohamed said she was pleased with the protest, having forced the cafe to close at one point.

Shifa said “I don’t think [the staff] truly know what kind of order they are working for. We will protest until they know what these people have done. We will ask foreigners to boycott Shell Beans.”

The campaign was launched just under two weeks ago and has gathered 1900 supporters on its Facebook page. The boycott’s list of products to target includes Granini juice, Lavazza coffee, Red Bull energy drinks, Marlboro cigarettes and Lindt chocolate.

These products are imported to the Maldives by Euro Store. Shops under boycott include MP Saleem’s ‘Redwave’ grocery chain and MP Mahloof’s clothing store ‘The Jeans’.

Protestors also called for a boycott of Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Gas and his airline Flyme. The campaigners alleged Gasim Ibrahim to be one of the main financiers of the coup.

Rasheed Carpentry and Construction Company, alleged to have ties to defense minister Ahmed Nazim, and PPM VP Umar Naseer’s security services Alarms and Whale Submarine tourist attraction are also included in the list.

After the protest the group from the MDP women’s wing, marched back towards the newly established demonstration area at Dharubaaruge. Shifa stated that the group will shortly be sending representatives to Thimarafushi and Kaashidhoo. Both constituencies are to hold by-elections in one week’s time.

The group also intends to engage in demonstrations tonight, focussing on the World Health Day theme. Shifa stated that she was particularly concerned with the recent discussions in parliament regarding the Aasandha health care scheme.

“We are very concerned. It is the only successful measure of redistribution [of wealth] that we have given to the people. They are trying to take it away,” Shifa argued.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed, addressing his followers at Dharubaaruge on Wednesday night, argued that the government was wasting state funds that could finance the scheme on promotions and bonuses for security forces personnel.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) recently announced plans to promote 1000 officers, whilst the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) announced two years of allowances was to be paid to qualifying officers in a lump sum.

After financial problems with the scheme were discussed in the People’s Majlis this week, Financial Committee Chairperson and Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim described the current application of the scheme as a “hole in the pocket of the government” but vowed to reform the system, assuring that “Aasandha is here to stay.”

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Revenue figures reveal economic impact of change in lease extension policy

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) released figures earlier this week showing the extent to which the change in island lease payments has affected the Maldivian economy.

According to MIRA’s figures, the total revenue projected for March was Rf1044 million [US$ 68 million], but had received 37.9 percent lower than the projected revenue “mainly due to the unrealised revenue from the Lease Extension Period.”

MIRA had anticipated to receive a total of Rf375 million [US$ 24 million] for lease extensions – however, due to government’s recent decision to accept resort island’s lease extension payments in installments – the  income received dropped to nearly Rf23 million (US$1.5 million).

These figures were published the same week that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned the People’s Majlis that drastic measures must be made to reduce the government’s budget deficit. At the same time, the government announced that it was promoting a third of the police force and paying two years of allowances to defence personnel.

The IMF noted that the budget figures it had seen did not reflect the lost revenue resulting from the change in collection of lease payments.

Concluding the IMF’s visit to the country, the group’s representative suggested that the government reduce civil service pay and benefits, re-introduce recently removed import duties, increase the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and increase the bed tax by 50 percent.

The IMF’s expressed it fears that the government may exhaust its reserves if it did not resolve its budgetary imbalances: “Immediate steps have to be taken. This is the reality, we have to face it.”

MIRA’s figures appear to bear out the fears of the former Tourism Minister Dr Mariyam Zulfa, who predicted that the new government, having “over-interpreted” the repayment clauses in the Tourism Act, could expect to see up to $135 million taken from government revenues in the next year.

At the time of the Tourism Ministry’s announcement of the extension payment changes, the government had already received lump sum payments from 25 resorts equating to US$40 million and was expecting nearly US$135 more from 90 resorts.

“The lease extension is about increasing the asset value of the properties. In the Maldives, all the islands actually belong to the government and when the second amendment to the tourism law came into place it gave the option for resorts to extend the existing 25 year leases to 50 years,” explained Dr Zulfa, at the time.

“A time period was given and there is a clause [in tourism lease extension regulation] that stipulates that the payment must be done in completion before the lease period can be extended. So, the Nasheed government had interpreted that clause as the payment to be paid in full for the period extended. So, because the wording is such that the payment must be complete before the extension is granted, we interpreted it as the full payment.”

“But there is another clause [in Tourism Act] which says the manner in which the payment is calculated is on an annual basis. This [current] government has over-interpreted that clause and has said that the payment has to be made on an annual basis, but I have always insisted that the value of the government assets must not be allowed to decrease because the payments go to funding welfare services, housing projects, infrastructure projects, health services and so on that would benefit the local community,” she said.

“The current government has not only allowed payment to be made on an annual basis but allow for the payment to start at the end of the 25 year period, which is years away. It is a huge loss to the government treasury, about US$150 million, and I think as a result that a lot of people will be deprived of the many projects that we have started for the benefit of the communities across the atolls,” argued Zulfa.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb has said that the government would reimburse US$ 40, accepted as lease extension payments prior to the change in policy  by deducting the amount from the rent payments.

Explaining the decision at the time, Adheeb also said that the government was happy make things easier for the tourism industry wherever it could, after it had contributed so much to the economy through taxes.

He further claimed that the government was seeking to act in line with a December 2011 High Court ruling against Nasheed administration’s interpretation of the relevant clause in lease extension regulation.

After the ruling was made, and before it lost control of the government, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), had stated its intention to appeal the High Court’s decision. Dr Zulfa reports that the current government has removed this appeal from the high court.

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ADC issue will bankrupt Maldives Airports Company: Finance Minister Jihad

Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad has declared that the Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) is unable to pay the disputed airport development tax (ADC) without risking bankruptcy.

The ADC was intended to be a US$25 fee charged to outgoing passengers from January this year, as stipulated in the contract signed with Indian infrastructure giant GMR in 2010. The anticipated US$25 million the charge would raise was to go towards the cost of renovating INIA’s infrastructure.

The ADC was to be charged after midnight on January 1, 2012, however the Civil Court blocked the fee on the grounds that it was essentially the same as a pre-existing Airport Services Charge (ASC). Following the court ruling the Nasheed government agreed that the ADC be deducted from its concession fee paid to the government-owned company in charge of the airport, Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL).

On Monday however, new Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad told local newspaper Haveeru that MACL should not and could not cover the development costs.

“The Civil Court ruled against that charge. Hence that amount must not be deducted from the payment to the government which would reduce its income,” Jihad argued. “The Airports Company might face losses if that happens,” he said.

“I don’t believe that GMR can deduct that amount from the payment owed to the government. The estimated US$30 million for this year must be paid. If the payment is not received it would be difficult to run the Airports Company,” he continued.

Speaking to Minivan News, Jihad said the next step was to ask GMR to resolve the issue after the board of MACL was reappointed.

“The new board will write to GMR… It is not for the Finance Ministry to interfere with the running of the [airport] company,” said Jihad.

He also claimed that he did not feel there were any specific provisions in the original deal detailing the collection of the ADC.

In a statement following the court decision, GMR stated that it “has been permitted to collect ADC and Insurance charge under the Concession Agreement signed between GMR-MAHB, Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) and The Republic of Maldives (acting by and through its Ministry of Finance and Treasury), and as such has set up processes for ADC collection from 1st January 2012 supported by an information campaign to ensure adequate awareness.”

CEO of INIA Andrew Harrison said that the company was unwilling to comment on the “sensitive” issue at this point.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla in assured his Indian counterpart that all existing investment agreements would be honoured.

According to the Indian newspaper, the Hindu, Samad assured Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna that the government’s policy was unchanged, after his counterpart expressed the desire that the Maldives remained friendly to outside investors.

Longstanding opposition

The contentious Civil Court case was filed by the then-opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), now part of the ruling coalition, in a longstanding campaign against Nasheed’s government awarding the airport redevelopment to GMR. DQP leader Dr Hassan Saeed is now President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s special advisor, while DQP Vice-President Dr Mohamed Jameel is the new Home Minister.

The decision to finalise a deal to develop Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) was agreed under the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed in 2010. GMR emerged victorious in the bidding process, amid political opposition on largely nationalistic grounds.

Umar Naseer, now the deputy leader of the ruling coalition party the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), previously announced his intention to re-nationalise the airport should his party come to power. Naseer also contended that the airport deal would allow “Israeli flights to come and stop over [in the Maldives] after bombing Arab countries”.

The DQP campaigned vigorously against the deal, producing a pamphlet last December titled “Handing the airport to GMR: The beginning of slavery”, in which it criticised the arrangement with GMR.

In the document, the party argued that deal would allow the Indian company to “colonise” the local economy to the detriment of Maldivians. The DQP also questioned the legality of the deal, taking the issue of the ADC to the civil courts.

The document further alleged that the deal did not make adequate provision for replacing the runway, the condition of which has come under increasing criticism.

Head of the DQP Dr Hassan Saeed today said he was unable to comment on recent developments regarding GMR and the ADC.

The ADC was ruled by the court to be a new tax and was subsequently required to go through the People’s Majlis.

In light of this decision, GMR agreed with the Nasheed government in January that it would deduct the $25 per passenger fee from the concessionary charge paid each quarter to MACL. At the time the government acknowledged the compromise to be a temporary whilt maintaining its commitment to ADC in some form.

Confidence in GMR’s $511 million dollar INIA project appeared to take a hit after the the resignation of President Nasheed in February was accompanied by a five percent drop in GMR’s share prices before bouncing back shortly after.

Dr Waheed has reassured foreign investors that no businesses would be targetted for political reasons, although he did not rule out re-examining “certain deals”.

Attorney General Azima Shukoor announced that she had forwarded some of the previous government’s deals to the Auditor General but said no decision had yet been made on GMR. The government announced the suspension of any new Public Private Partnership schemes last month.

Spokesman for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Hamid Abdul Ghafoor argued that the new figures in the government were not doing enough to protect foreign investment.

“If they were going to protect the economy, they would be more proactive, rather than simply saying we can’t do it,” said Hamed. “This will seriously impact the the development of the airport. In the meantime, investors lose confidence.”

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IMF predicts dire consequences if deficit reduction fails

The IMF yesterday warned the People’s Majlis that if the country does not reduce its expenditure, it risks running out of reserves and miring the country in poverty.

“The expenditure has not been under control since 2009. It has been rising, and we have been [issuing] warnings since then,” Haveeru reported the Chief of the IMF mission in the Maldives, Jonathan Dunn, as telling parliament.

Previously highlighting “significant policy slippages”, in particular the government’s failure to curtail spending, the IMF felt it necessary to delay the third tranche of funding in 2010. Nasheed’s government contended that it had tried to impose austerity measures, in particular pay cuts for civil servants, but had been blocked by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and then-opposition majority parliament for political reasons.

Dunn recommended against printing money or obtaining loans from other countries, given the current economic frailty of the Maldives.

His suggestions for expenditure reduction included revising civil servants’ salaries and allowances, increasing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 6 percent to 15 percent, re-introducing import duties, and increasing bed tax by 50 percent, from US$8 to $12.

According to the World Bank, a 66 percent increase in salaries and allowances for government employees between 2006 and 2008 was “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”

Originally, it was foreseen that the shortfall from import duties was to be covered by Rf2 billion in tourism goods and services tax (T-GST) and Rf 1 billion as general goods and services tax (GST) revenue.

The IMF representative also noted that budget figures they studied did not represent the change in the way lease extensions for resorts were now being received.

The new government recently revised the policy on lease extension payments for resort islands, making the sums payable in instalments rather than lump sums. Former Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa has argued that this policy is largely responsible for the current budget deficit, instantly creating a US$135 million hole in the budget for the short-term financial benefit of several influential Maldivian resort owners.

Detailed national income statistics are now published monthly by the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA). Total revenue collected in March was Rf 648.7 million (US$42.1 million), more than triple the amount received in March 2010.

However, “revenue received [in March 2012] is 37.9 percent lower than the projected revenue, mainly due to the unrealised revenue from Lease Period Extension,” MIRA observed.

Total revenue collected during the first quarter of 2012 represents a 113.9 percent increase on the same period last year. Half of the revenue collected during this period was attributable to the Business Profit Tax (BPT) and GST, introduced during Nasheed’s government.

Head of the Majlis’s Financial Committee, Deputy Speaker and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim, met with the IMF last week and said their main concern was that the 2012 budget “may not be realised.”

“The IMF feels there is a big hole in the forecast revenue,” said Nazim.

He also felt the investigation of the expenditure on the Aasandha health insurance scheme to be relevant, as it represents more than 10 percent of the budget.

Although he described the scheme’s future as assured, he expressed grave concerns over the sustainability of the scheme as currently practiced.

“It is a hole in the pocket of the government. It seems odd that half of the population has used it, there is no epidemic, and yet it has used Rf 3 million (US$195,000) a day on medicine,” said Nazim.

Nazim also mentioned the shortfall of over Rf 500 million from the failure to privatise  Maldives Post Ltd, Island Aviation and Maldives In-flight catering.

Tourism Revenues

Due to the country’s reliance on imports, the waning of reserves was described as very dangerous, with the IMF comparing the situation with that of the Seychelles in 2008.

The Seychelles secured a US$26 million Stand-By Arrangement from the IMF after a balance of payments crisis saw the country default on international loans. In exchange, the Seychelles, whose economy also relies heavily on tourism, undertook stringent cuts, including shedding 12.5% of the government workforce.

The Seychelles crisis was partly attributed to a fall in the tourism trade damaging the country’s finances. Concerns have been raised regarding the effect of the current political crisis on the current Maldives’ government, with some figures suggesting numbers were down as a result.

Dunn anticipated that the tourism figures were likely to affect the amount of the GST that would be received, which he argued could not replace the income forfeited by suspending many import duties. Both measures were introduced with cross party support at the start of the year under the previous government.

The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) had previously warned that the industry stands to lose as much as US$100 million in the next six months due to widespread media coverage of the country’s political unrest.

More recently, however, the Tourism Ministry declared its confidence that this year’s arrivals will break all previous records. Maldives Association of Travel and Tour Operators (MATATO) yesterday revealed plans to specifically target certain markets with specially assigned staff members to help achieve those aims.

Deputy Minister of Tourism Mohamed Maleeh Jamaal said that the Tourism Ministry did not forecast that the decline would continue.

“The Chinese market is improving. Our [predictions] do not show that the Chinese market will decline to the extent the IMF has said, and we had a positive growth in the last three months,” he said.

Concluding his presentation, Dunn pressed home the harsh reality of the economic climate.

“These are tough steps to take. It requires your [MPs’] cooperation. It is your responsibility as well. This is necessary for the nation. Immediate steps have to be taken. This is the reality, we have to face it.”

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Q&A: Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz

Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz was appointed following the change of government on February 7 in what former President Mohamed Nasheed and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) contends was a police and military-led coup d’état. Riyaz had previously served as Assistant Commissioner but was dismissed by Nasheed’s government in 2009.

Daniel Bosley: Why did you decide to promote so many officers all at once?

Abdulla Riyaz: Well, most of the promotions have been overdue for a long time, and when I took office I looked at the reasons and discussed with the executives, as I have mentioned, that we have been working to restructure the whole organisation which I have done. It has been selected to under directorates which would be able to form some departments, and in the departments there will be several units which will cover the whole country. We have a constitutional responsibility as well as from the police act. We have a lot of responsibilities to protect and serve the people, to keep the peace in society, and to maintain law and order so I thought it is necessary that these arrangements should be made and that is what we have done. All the promotions that we have awarded are based on the promotion regulations.

DB: Is this re-organisation linked to your aim of de-politicising the police force?

AR: Well, there is no politicisation in the police any more. But for the last three years, this organisation has been heavily influenced by politicians. I’m sure all professional journalists, if they have done this analysis or investigation, would find that. Since I have taken office I have looked at some of the issues and have found that some of the promotions have been given just because of political influence. There have been some officers transferred from one police station to others just for the political reasons, so I am here to make sure that I am serving this organisation, also the people of the Maldives, without bias. Today I can say very proudly say that we are working without any political influence, from the President or from the Minister. It is totally, one hundred percent, independently operational now.

DB: So, there have been demotions as well?

AR: No, there hasn’t been any demotion – definitely not so far, and I have no intention to either. If there has been any misconduct, any unlawful act done by any police officer; if they have been found guilty by law or by disciplinary boards, through the due process. If that kind of advise or that kind of verdict comes, I will definitely take those actions [to demote]. I will never hesitate to demote a police officer if they are found guilty of any unlawful act.

DB: There has been a lot of talk about reform and enhanced training; what kind of things do you have in mind for the future?

AR: For the training, our main challenge at the moment is to keep the peace in our society. To do that we have prioritised our operational practice. One of these is drug trafficking; the second is violent crimes, organised crime, counter terrorism, and road discipline – so these are the five main operational priorities that we are going to focus on this year. Most of our resources will go to make sure that we get results in these areas and our training will be focused on that.

We said that we would also want to make sure that we can convince the public and increase the public perception about the trust and confidence in the police, we need to improve that. That is one of the main areas we need. For that we need to assure that the police is not biased, that the police are professional, that we deal without any gender bias or without any political differences of that nature.

So, I am very confident that we will be in a better position to get this [confidence] back. I am pretty confident that we can achieve public trust and confidence. It’s just a couple of months that I have taken office and so far the feedback that I have been getting is very positive, and of course I am open for any comments or suggestions from the members of the public;  from which we will definitely make changes to our programmes or our projects.

So mostly, all our focus will be on that. We are doing a lot of training on professional development; investigations to make sure that, rather than on the number of cases we investigate, we concentrate more on making sure that we have more successful prosecutions. Because we have seen in the past a lot of cases that have not been proven at the court of law. That is a big concern for me, so I am working very closely with the Prosecutor General as well to make sure that our officers are trained professionally to investigate, to interview, trained to collect evidence, analyse it, submit reports and present it at the court of law, and make sure we have successful prosecutions. That is the other main area.

We are also very much concerned about our officers safety – I condemn the acts of some of the people who have attacked the police officers. We have not lost any lives but there have been several serious injuries and we had to take a couple of our officers abroad for treatment. A lot of their assets have been targeted and vandalised on the other atolls, on the islands, while they were serving the public. So, one of our concerns is also to improve their welfare and working conditions, plus their working shifts. We know that some of the officers have been working very hard, very long hours and that we need to improve that. For that reason we needed more officers to be recruited into the organisation, which we are going to do this year. We have been approved for 200 more police officers to be included, so they will be initiated this year. We are also seeing that due to the long shifts and fatigue, that we need to make sure that our officers are dealing with the public professionally.

We are getting some of the reports of complaints about police officers’ dealings and because of that reason we have restructure our professional standards. They are responsible to deal with complaints against the police, also to do counselling for officers, and that kind of program has already been initiated. The counselling program will involve almost all of the police officers in the service. It is professional counselling to make sure that they don’t have worries with their families or whatever issues that they have, if that comes back to us, then our organisation will know what are the things we need to improve. These are the main areas we need to improve.

DB: We have already touched slightly on internal disciplinary procedures – have these been changed in any way?

AR: The internal disciplinary procedures all these years has been that, if there is any complaint against the police, the case has to register at the Professional Standards Directorate (PSD). It had to be registered, somebody had to complain. But I have changed it to act that if we hear information from any sources – it is more pro-active. Then the PSD has the responsibility to do an inquiry, and they will also work very closely with the Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM), with the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), with Amnesty International (AI) or other organisations who are dealing with these kinds of areas, so they are very pro-active – more proactive than ever before.

Once they investigate the cases, if they feel that there has been a criminal case, then it will be dealt with by the criminal investigation department, whereas if it is a disciplinary issue, it will go through the disciplinary board. We have a disciplinary board of five or seven members; we have changed the board now. Some commissioned officers have been complained about so it has been restructured so very senior officers will be sitting to deal with the commissioned officers and so that is the procedure. If the board decides that action should be taken then I will definitely endorse it. That is how it is done in terms of disciplinary issues and if there is a call for dismissal then I have to write to the Minister for his authorisation. If it is a criminal case it will go to the prosecutor general who will deal with it in accordance with the law.

DB: Could you comment on recent complaints by Amnesty International regarding the treatment of female detainees?

AR: It’s very unfortunate that it has come up. Normally, these kinds of organisations, before they issue a release, they will ask for our comments. They have never done that; I am very disappointed about that. We have given Amnesty full access every time they asked; it is even now open. We have a very open policy. To be honest with you, even during a demonstration, every time we are working on the street, HRCM or PIC is on the ground to watch us. Normally, if we apprehend someone, before we even know their names, HRCM would have registered it by themselves. So it is in the normal cases.

We are giving them access to our reception, we are giving access to Dhoonidhoo island. In fact, they don’t have to ask to visit, they could just go by boat and say that ‘we are here’, they could make surprise visits – feel free, it’s open. Even Amnesty or Open Society or whatever – please come and visit us and see if there is anything we have been doing systematically to harass or do anything. On that matter, I am very disappointed that Amnesty has released that statement without contacting us for our comments. I don’t see that there has been any investigations done, none of our officers was questioned, interviewed – neither by them nor by the police integrity commission, nor by the human rights commission. I don’t think that’s fair and that’s the reason we had to respond to it [with a statement].

DB: Regarding the investigation of the events of February 7 and 8, what are the roles of the HRCM and the CNI?

AR: I can’t talk on behalf of CNI, obviously, but I think they are investigating an overview, that’s how I feel. They are not doing a criminal investigation. I was interviewed as well and I was told it wasn’t a criminal investigation. So I think we will have to wait for the outcome. I think it’s a very positive move by the government, to have an independent commission to make sure how events took place. The HRCM is perhaps doing a part of the investigation, or the PIC is doing some as well, so let’s wait and see how it comes.

DB: You have already mentioned the public sentiment problems, is there anything you would like to add on that subject?

AR: I can understand that this is not the best time for police, there have been a lot of things [that have happened]. What I would like to convey to the members of the public is that the police institution will remain as an institution. People come and go, the leadership comes and goes; the institution will remain. Even for the politicians or the members of the public who are not comfortable with us, I would want to convince, or give the message, that the institution will remain, so we will have to give that respect to the institution. If there is an issue with the commissioner or if there is an issue with any of the officers, I think we will have to follow the processes; if there is any complaint, deal with it. All these institutions that have to be there within our constitution are already there in place, it’s functioning.

I think that PIC, HRCM, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) are very independently doing the investigations and we should allow that to happen rather than blaming the institutions for no reason. I don’t think that is going to be healthy, either for them, nor for society, nor for us. I think we have to strengthen the institutions, we have to advocate even the members of the public and the politicians as well. The future political leaders must also make sure we give the space to strengthen the institutions.

I think that this is a great opportunity for the Maldives. Why it is great is because now, at this point of time, I can say the police is very much operationally independent. This is the only time I can happily say that. I can see a lot of smiles from the police officers, I can see that they are not exhausted.  I have been scared with some of the incidents they have gone through during  the last three years – some of the decisions that have come from executive of what to do and what not to do. These things are not here, I don’t get calls from my president. That is why I’m saying that this is a great time and I think that this is a time for our lawmakers to look at how this institution has been politicised, how can we improve for the new leaders; not only the executives but also the commissioners? How strong should the commissioner be to make sure the institution is not politicised?

I think these are the [important] areas and, of course, from all that we have seen about the arrest and detention of the criminal court judge, we can see that the whole thing is coming from the executive’s instructions. So what made the Home Minister and the Commissioner decide to come back and ask for assistance from the police, and the Commissioner to go to Defence, and the Defence Minister asking for the rank and files to make him arrest and all this – we have to look at these things. Do we want this to happen again? No. Do we want change of government like this? No. We are talking about making institutions professional, we are taking about strengthening institutions, we are talking about giving them space to effectively run the main responsibilities for the people.

Police are not there protect the government, police are there to protect the people. We have to differentiate these things, while in my position I have to decide whether my work will be to protect the government or should I use all my legal authority and machinery, the resources that we have, to protect the people. These are the decisions; these are two different things. I think in a democratic society, the policing is always for the people and I am confident that the President has pledged [this], and that was one of the reasons why I accepted to come back to the police. I have my trust and confidence in the president, also in my minister, and even if I get do get any unlawful order, I am confident to say that I will say no and I will  never do that. All the actions, all the decisions that we will take will be based on our legal positions, by ourselves. It will never be influenced by politicians.

DB: Has the precedent been set for police to overthrow government when unlawful orders are issued?

AR: I see February 6 as a day when the police have upheld the constitution and the laws of the land. They have been repeatedly instructed and given unlawful orders for which they have [refused to follow] several times. I see that as a day that they have upheld the law and constitution, I don’t see that they have overthrown the government. I see the whole process went very peacefully. I don’t see it as a coup either. I don’t know how it went inside the chambers of the Presidnt or inside his office, but obviously what I have seen is that he was very voluntarily resigning. I saw his resignation speech as well from close by, so I don’t see that there was any coup. I don’t believe the police force have overthrown the government.

In fact, if you look from minute to minute on the sixth, what they have been asking is for one thing –  not to give unlawful orders, that’s the only thing they had been demanding. That was with a reason. Why were they at the Republic Square? Because the seniors asked them to stay there. So, the events have unfolded the next day and several things have happened, and the President has decided.

Definitely, I was never involved in any coup. I can one hundred percent guarantee that if there is any investigation from any agency, I can one hundred percent say that I am very innocent in that. Whatever role I played, it was based on national interest, nothing else. We never wanted to see any bloodshed, we never wanted to see anything happen wrong there and that was a time when I thought that the nation had asked for my support or my presence. That is how I was there. Unless, if anything is proven in a court of law, I don’t think I can be convinced otherwise.

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Police promote one thousand officers, recruiting further 200

In a ceremony to celebrate the 79th year of the police service, Police Commissioner Abdullah Riyaz and Minister of Home Affairs Dr Abdullah Jameel announced the promotion of around 1000 police officers – approximately a third of the force.

The appointment of four new Assistant Commissioners was also announced, more than doubling the previous number holding this rank – the third highest position in the service.

Additionally, the police have revealed plans to recruit 200 new officers to the force this year.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said that these promotions were in line with normal police regulations, and were awarded “based on performance, merit, and number of years served.”

The weekend’s celebrations continued as President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan announced plans to allocate 74,000 square feet of land to develop homes for police personnel.

Dr Waheed also expressed his gratitude for the police’s actions on February 7. “I state that the police worked on February 7 to uphold the constitution of Maldives,” he said.

The anniversary of the police service comes after months of intense scrutiny in which it the service been accused of brutality, human rights abuses and complicity in the downfall of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

On Saturday, Commissioner Riyaz stated that he did not intend to pursue an internal investigation into the alleged events of February 7 and 8, citing the lack of credibility that such an investigation was likely to have.

The unrest on February 8 saw a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protest swiftly suppressed by the security forces while the footage of police aggression was beamed around the world.

Instead, Riyaz declared his decision to focus on repairing the organisational damage done to the institution.

“I can’t just come in here and investigate the alleged police brutality as the first order of business. It is essential to establish who was occupying which post first by assessing the organizational structure. The whole institution had been politically influenced,” the Commissioner told Haveeru.

“We all know that the positions within the police institutions had not been assigned in accordance with police regulations and had functioned in violation of the police system. Hence, I am compelled to drag the institution back into its proper system,” said Riyaz.

He also stated that he had discussed any potential investigation with the President and the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) shortly after taking up his post, requesting that the HRCM take up the responsibility.

Amnesty International had last week criticised this method of investigation after having spoken to HRCM regarding the investigation of alleged sexual abuse of female detainees.

“HRCM has told Amnesty International that they have serious limitations in terms of trained investigative staff and dealing with human rights issues in a highly politicised environment is an overwhelming challenge for them,” said Amnesty’s representative in Male’, Abbas Faiz.

“By referring cases of police abuse of power to the HRCM, when it is clear that such investigations are beyond its capacity, the government is in effect forfeiting its own responsibility to enforce respect for human rights within the police force,” said Faiz.

President Waheed’s speech at the anniversary’s official function event focussed on the difficult environment the police had found themselves since the upheavals of February.

Waheed called on public to show respect for and cooperation with the police while urging all officers to respect human rights and human dignity in the course of their duties.

The strong public discontent with the police’s role in, and its reaction to, the events of February 7 and 8 has led to simmering tensions which have erupted in sporadic violence.

The President also expressed his sadness at the physical and emotional distress suffered by the police in recent weeks.

The opening of the people’s Majlis on March 19 was accompanied by clashes which saw the police suffer multiple casualties. This was followed by a series of attacks which saw four police officers hospitalised in five days.

Popular discontent also saw the staging of a large rally on March 15 in support of the International Day Against Police Brutality.

Both Commissioner Riyaz and President Waheed have been reported expressing concerns that people in the media were attempting to defame the image of the police force, expressing concern that this was damaging the country.

“I am aware of their contempt towards the institution. I will try to resolve the matter. The biggest challenge would be to win back their trust and confidence,” Riyaz told Haveeru.

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Chinese tourist arrivals drop 34.8%

Chinese tourist arrivals dropped by 34.8 percent to 12,237 in February compared to the same point last year, according to Asian travel trade newspaper TTG.  Around 6,500 fewer tourists arrived from China last month, largely due to the cancellation of charter flights, which are expected to resume in April.

Visitor numbers to the Maldives dropped by 4.7 percent year on year in February following the political crisis, the industry paper revealed. Arrivals fell from 87,392 to 83,252, after having grown by 13.4 percent when compared with the same period in 2010.

Arrivals from the UK also fell, while visitors from France and Germany rose by 4.9 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Efforts including familiarisation trips arranged for the media and tour operators have been employed to reassure Chinese tour operators who appear to have been unnerved more than others by the upheavals following February 7.

The Chinese market makes up around a fifth of all tourist arrivals to the Maldives in a sector that indirectly contributes over 70 percent of the country’s GDP.

George Weinmann, Chief Executive of Mega Maldives Airlines, which charters flights between Male’ and multiple Chinese destinations, told the New York Times this week the full schedule of flights was to resume on April 4. He was confident that his business would continue to grow – its employee numbers have doubled in just over a year.

The Maldives sent a group of 200 to the recent ITB trade fair in Berlin, representing 65 companies, to reassure the international markets that the Maldives remained a safe travel destination.

The need for this public relations exercise was reflected by the words of Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Lord Howell, who felt the need to defend the country‘s image during discussion of the Maldives’ situation in the House of Lords on March 22.

“The Maldives, as my noble friend has said, remains the paradise and attractive tourist area that it has always been and continues to be, because at the moment we do not judge that there is any danger in the tourist areas,” said Howell.

The FCO lifted all travel restrictions to the UK on March, as did Germany, though it has been reported that tourists in resorts have been prevented from taking trips to the capital.

Politics in paradise

The alleged involvement of tourist resort magnates in February’s changeover of power has seen attempts to politicise the tourism industry, in particular to put pressure on tourists to avoid certain resorts.

In the UK, a Maldives Travel Advisory website has been established, grading a number of resorts on a traffic light system, ranging from ‘green’ sites which the advisory urges tourists to visit, ‘amber’ which are under consideration regarding their alleged involvement in the changeover, and ‘red’ which the advisory urges against travel to.

The selective nature of the boycott is indicative of the desire of all sides to shield the image of the tourist industry from long term damage. Of the 107 resorts currently listed on the website, only 12 are listed in the ‘red’ category, with another 12 in the ‘amber’ category.

The Friends of Maldives (FOM) group has attempted to publicise this travel advisory, for example by handing out leaflets outside of a meeting held by the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor in London earlier this month.

This attempt did receive some coverage in the British Media, with prominent columnist for the The Daily Telegraph, Oliver Smith, writing, “The moral implications of visiting the Maldives have been called into question following the downfall of Mr Nasheed.”

Adheeb had earlier expressed concerns that the message of the political and geographical separation of the resorts from wider Maldivian society was not being made clear enough: “That message is not going out. People don’t know that the resorts are separate [from the rest of the Maldives], and international headlines have made people panic.”

The Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has employed the services of a professional PR company, Rooster Creative Public Relations Ltd to represent its interests in the UK, explaining, “The purpose of having a full time PR and Marketing agency is to overcome the image that is continuously spoiling in the UK market due to the current political turbulence.”

Despite the presence of some Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters outside of the venue who distributed literature relating to police brutality, the party insists that politics should not impinge on tourism.

In a recent interview, the former Minister for Tourism Dr Mariyam Zulfa told Minivan News, “It has never been the MDPs intention or any other political party’s intention to harm the economy in any way.”

Concerns that politics will damage the image of the destination could be premature. In the days after the coup, a report on Reuters that tourists “barely put down their cocktails during the political crisis” appears emblematic of the attitude of those seeking relaxation in paradise.

In a February poll taken on the Chinese social networking site Weibo, only a third of over 8000 respondents said that the coup had affected them. Tourists at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) who were recently asked their opinion about the politics in Male’ did not show concern.

A couple from London said they were unaware of any issues, whilst a Swiss tourist stated his belief that the problem was one for the state to deal with and should not concern tourists.

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IMF will work with us to reduce expenditure, says President’s Office

Government spokesman Abbas Adil Riza said today that the IMF is willing to work closely with the government, after a delegation from the organisation arrived in Male’.

Abbas said that as the government’s current policy is to reduce expenditure, it will require assistance from the IMF.

“The IMF wants to re-engage with the Maldives. The main reason the Maldives was suspended from receiving the funds that were destined for the country was because the former administration could not meet the requirements of the IMF,” Abbas was reported as saying in local media.

“The result of the discussions held with the IMF and this government would be an acquirement of extra $20 million from the IMF. It will be settled in a month or so,” he said.

Abbas denied that the meeting was initiated by the government: “Given that the Maldives is a member of the IMF meetings may be held at any time, so they’re not here due to an initiative taken by the government.”

The previous government’s discussions with the IMF became deadlocked after the government was unable to comply with the group’s borrowing requirements conditions concerning deficit reduction.

During his recent inaugural address to the People’s Majlis, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan commented on the current state of the economy.

“Estimates for 2012 indicate that the debt component of the current account in our Balance of Payments will increase by 11 per cent as compared to 2011,” stated the president. “With respect to GDP, debt of our current account will go up to 28 per cent. This figure in 2011 was 26 per cent. The main reason for this rise is the expectation that imports will increase, resulting in an increase in expenditure for these imports.”

Government expenditure outstripped revenue  by 20 percent between January and September last year, claimed the Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

The budget deficit, which stood at just 1.9 percent of the economy in 2004, expanded to 7.3 percent in 2006 and ballooned to 23.9 percent in 2007, according to the IMF.

The fiscal deficit exploded on the back of a 400 percent increase in the government’s wage bill between 2004 and 2009, with tremendous growth between 2007 and 2009.

On paper, the government increased average salaries from Rf3000 to Rf11,000 and boosted the size of the civil service from 24,000 to 32,000 people – 11 percent of the total population of the country – doubling government spending from 35 percent of GDP to 60 percent from 2004 to 2006.

In a 2010 World Bank report headed ‘How did the Maldives get into this situation?’, it was noted that “the origin of the crisis is very clear… the wage bill for public sector employees grew dramatically in a very short time.”

According to the World Bank, a 66 percent increase in salaries and allowances for government employees between 2006 and 2008 was “by far the highest increase in compensation over a three year period to government employees of any country in the world.”

After declaring “significant policy slippages”, in particular the government’s failure to curtail spending,the IMF felt it necessary to delay some the Maldives’ funding in 2010.

After the Nasheed government struggled to reduce expenditure due to political constraints, in particular the Civil Service Commission, it introduced a tourism goods and services tax (TGST) in order for the local economy to benefit from the lucrative but often removed tourism economy.

The World Bank’s annual ‘Doing Business’ report for 2010 saw the Maldives’ ‘ease of doing business’ ranking fall from 71 to 87, and identified no ‘business-friendly’ reforms.

The Ministry of Education has recently announced a freeze on all Public Private Partnership (PPP), which were originally intended to remove financial burdens from the government, after raising questions over the legality of the tender processes.

Following the recent inaugural speech of President Waheed, his spokesman Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News that the current government would not be looking to increase the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (TGST) but pledged that the government would seek to “live within in its own means.”

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