Category: News in Brief

Run-off parties begin signing voter register

Both parties with candidates competing in Saturday’s presidential run-off have begun signing the voters lists this evening.

Local media reported that the Elections Commission had stated that all lists needed to be signed, rather than just those that had been changed after re-registration as had been the case previously.

The court mandated procedure, requiring all candidates sign the amended voter lists before the vote can proceed has caused problems in the run-up to both polls scheduled over the last month.

Police moved to block the October 19 vote after both the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the Jumhooree Party refused to sign the lists. Last Saturday’s successful poll also came under threat when both parties again refused to sign the lists shortly before reversing their decision under intense international pressure.

The PPM’s candidate Abdulla Yameen also suggested he would not sign the voter lists for the run-off – originally scheduled for last Sunday (November 10) – before the Supreme Court stepped in to delay the vote.

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Candidates asked to sign voter lists on Thursday and Friday

Presidential run-off candidates will be given the opportunity to sign the voters register on November 14 and 15, the Elections Commission (EC) has told local media.

The court mandated procedure, requiring all candidates sign the amended voter lists before the vote can proceed has caused problems in the run-up to both polls scheduled over the last month.

Police moved to block the October 19 vote after both the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the Jumhooree Party refused to sign the lists. Last Saturday’s successful poll also came under threat when both parties again refused to sign the lists shortly before reversing their decision under intense international pressure.

The PPM’s candidate Abdulla Yameen also suggested he would not sign the voter lists for the run-off – originally scheduled for last Sunday (November 10) – before the Supreme Court stepped in to delay the vote.

The EC has been accepting and assessing complaints regarding re-registration today, after the window to lodge grievances closed at midday. The re-registration process was completed yesterday.

Local media has also reported that the candidates have both expressed a preference for maintaining the same numbers on Saturday’s ballot. The Maldivian Democratic Party’s Mohamed Nasheed will again be listed as candidate number 4, whilst Yameen will be candidate number 3.

EC Chair Fuwad Thowfeek told Sun Online that transportation of the ballots to the atolls would begin on Thursday.

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Deputy Prosecutor General resigns

Deputy Prosecutor General Dheebanaaz Fahmy resigned from her post today, being replaced with Hussain Shameem, local media has reported.

Sun Online stated that Dheebanaaz refused to disclose the reasons for her dismissal, though she was reported to have described having worked with Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizz as a privilege.

Muizz is currently facing a no-confidence motion in the Majlis after the Maldivian Democratic Party accused him of of “selectively” pursuing cases against its members while ignoring “human rights abuses” committed by police in the wake of the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012.

Muizz has suggested that he would tender his resignation before allowing the Majlis to vote on the motion.

Muizz’s new deputy, Shameem, previously held the position until late last year before taking time to study abroad.

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ACC checks inventories at presidential residence

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) began checking the inventory at the official residence of the vice president, Hilaaleege, this week, local media reports.

The vice presidential residence has been used by President Dr Mohamed Waheed since the controversial transfer of presidential power on February 7, 2012.

The ACC decided to check the inventory following a complaint alleging that assets were being removed from Hilaaleege before the end of the presidential term on November 11.

ACC Chair Hassan Luthfy told CNM that a complaint was also submitted alleging that the inventory did not include gifts from foreign dignitaries received during the administrations of former Presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed.

Opposition-aligned Raajje TV meanwhile reported today that an ACC team was unable to check the inventory at the official presidential residence of Muleeage.

Staff at Muleeage alleged that the brother of President Waheed, Assad Waheed, had the key to the room where the gifts from the dignitaries were stored.

Assad however did not answer the phone when the ACC investigators attempted to contact him, the staff claimed.

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STO raises credit limit for IGMH, resumes supplying medicine

The State Trading Organisation (STO) has raised the credit limit for the government-operated Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) and resumed providing medical supplies and medicine.

STO Managing Director Shahid Ali told CNM today that the credit limit has been raised to MVR5 million (US$324,254) following assurances by the Finance Ministry.

While local media had reported that STO had stopped providing medicine to IGMH, Shahid explained that the government-owned company was unable to provide further supplies after the credit limit was reached this morning. The hospital owes STO for purchases dating back to 2011, he noted.

However, IGMH Responsible Officer Dr Mohamed Habeeb claimed that the STO stopped providing supplies “every other week or two weeks” citing the credit limit.

“STO has stopped providing medicine and medical supplies today saying we have run out of credit. But what can we do? It is the Finance Ministry that pays,” he was quoted as saying.

Shahid Ali had told parliament’s Finance Committee recently that the company was facing financial constraints due to unpaid debts in excess of MVR600 million from other government-owned companies.

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Dr Hassan Saeed retires from politics

Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Leader Dr Hassan Saeed, running mate of third-placed candidate Gasim Ibrahim in yesterday’s presidential election, has resigned from his party and retired from active politics.

A council member of the DQP told newspaper Haveeru today that Dr Saeed has decided to end his political career based on a lack of electoral success during the past 10 years.

Running as an independent candidate in the first multi-party democratic election in 2008 – after resigning as Attorney General under former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom citing obstruction of the reform agenda – Dr Saeed came third in the first round and pledged “unconditional” support for the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) candidate Mohamed Nasheed in the run-off against the incumbent.

Appointed Special Advisor to President Nasheed following the MDP-led coalition’s victory in October 2008, Dr Saeed resigned from the post 100 days into the new administration after a series of disagreements and letters of advice shared with the media.

Saeed became a vocal critic of the Nasheed administration together with then-DQP deputy leader Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who was sacked from Nasheed’s cabinet shortly after Saeed’s resignation.

In the run-up to a mass gathering organised by eight opposition parties and an alliance of NGOs on December 23, 2011 ostensibly to “defend Islam” from the alleged liberalisation and securalisation agenda of the MDP government, Saeed’s DQP issued a pamphlet titled “President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians.”

Following Nasheed’s controversial resignation in the wake of a violent police mutiny less than a month and a half later, Saeed was appointed Special Advisor to current President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

He resigned from the post citing excessive “family and foreign influence” and was shortly thereafter unveiled as Jumhooree Party leader and business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim’s running mate.

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Elections Commission announces re-registration deadline of 8:00pm

The Elections Commission (EC) has announced a deadline of 8:00pm tonight for citizens wishing to vote outside their home island in the run-off election scheduled for November 16 to submit re-registration forms.

Voter details can be checked in the Maldives by sending an SMS to 1414 in the format ‘VIS [ID#]’, or by calling the helpline on the same number.

Registration details can also be checked online at http://elections.gov.mv/index2715.html

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Jumhooree coalition accuses EC of costing it votes on election day

Jumhooree coalition Presidential Candidate Gasim Ibrahim’s spokesperson Ibrahim Khaleel has accused the Elections Commission (EC) of anti-campaigning against their candidate.

Khaleel is quoted in local media as stating that the EC has today infringed upon the electoral rights of candidates.

Khaleel stated that the EC, in a press conference held Saturday afternoon, had spoken about the JP refusing to sign the voters’ list which is to be used in a second round of elections which, if necessary, are to be held on Sunday.

He then alleged that this statement by the EC would lead Gasim to lose support.

EC President Fuwad Thowfeek cited words of JP’s Deputy Leader Ibrahim Didi, who, according to Thowfeek had told him the party “had no objections with proceeding with elections, but [we] refuse to sign the voter lists”, and also had stated he would send in a letter saying the same.

Khaleel, however, denied that this way the party’s stand and claimed instead that it was the deputy leader’s personal opinion.

EC Member Ali Mohamed Manik had been asked a similar question at today’s press conference by Gasim-owned VMedia, whether the commission’s intention was to anti-campaign by talking about the matter.

“We will neither campaign nor anti-campaign for anyone. We have no interest whatsoever in electing any particular candidate. I don’t believe that we have infringed any candidates’ rights by truthfully and factually answering media queries about who has so far signed or not signed the register.”

“We have a window of less than 24 hours between the two rounds of voting, and so we must speak of the matter. If this is then interpreted as anti-campaigning, then the only choice left would be to stop providing information to the media completely, and that probably is not an acceptable option.”

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Jumhoree Party requests Supreme Court cancel second round of polls on Sunday

The Jumhooree Party’s Youth Wing Leader Moosa Anwar has submitted a letter to the Supreme Court, requesting that the second round of elections scheduled for Sunday be annulled.

Anwar said in his letter that if the second round of the Presidential election is scheduled for the next day itself, candidates are “being stripped of some electoral rights”, according to local media.

Among the “electoral rights” that he claimed may be lost, he pointed out that since there is a such a short window of time, candidates may not be able to campaign for the second round.

He further said that this may make it difficult for “whichever candidate who finishes third place to endorse the runner-up who makes it into the second round”.

Anwar also alleged that “many people have been deprived of their right to vote in the second round as the Elections Commission gave only a duration of three hours in which to re-register for it.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court has ruled that their verdict on annulling the September 7 election remains in effect, and hence the current President and his government will remain in power if a new government is not elected by November 11.

The September 7 election was annulled – despite local and international observers commending it as free and fair – in relation to a case submitted by the JP alleging that there were irregularities and fraudulence involved in the vote.

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