Category: Politics

Letter on Sound of Maldives event

Dear Brother,

I would like to bring your attention to an event, “Sounds of Maldives” planned to be held at Kuda Bandos on May 19, 2011.

I cannot understand why the Maldives Government banned discos organised for the New Year’s Eve celebrations in 2009 and now take no such action for such events that are contrary to Islam.

Sounds of Maldives could have been held in Male’, there is certainly some reason why the event is scheduled to be held out of Male’, youngsters can easily smuggle bottles of liquor in their backpacks to Kuda Bandos.

I strongly condemn this and ask you to call the Maldives Government to stop this.

Yours Faithfully,

Enaz

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter, please submit it to [email protected]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Z-DRP claims texts of Gayoom’s illness from Dhunya’s number are malicious prank

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s faction of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has held a press conference calling on the public to be aware of false text messages circulated in the name of Gayoom’s daughter, Dhunya Maumoon.

Faction member MP Ahmed Nihan said the texts are being sent to different persons using mobile phone applications that can send texts under false numbers without the knowledge of the owner of the number.

“The texts say that Zaeem [an honorific for the former President] has fallen ill and is in a very critical condition.’’

‘’Since yesterday morning the persons who are doing this have been texting to different numbers using Dhunya’s mobile number, and people have been very concerned thinking that it was Dhunya who texted them,’’ Nihan said.

Nihan claimed the fraudsters “have been doing this either to mislead the public or to infuriate senior officials of the Z-DRP.”

‘’We don’t know who is doing this. The [ruling] Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters re most likely to do things like that,’’ he claimed, “But considering the current situation we can’t say, it might even be someone amongst us.’’

Furthermore, Nihan called supporters of Z-DRP faction to clarify with senior officials if they received any sort of concerning text.

‘’We will try to identify those responsible for this and will take action against them,’’ he said, adding that Gayoom was currently in a very ‘’fit and healthy condition.’’

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Comment: Where do you draw the line?

Where does one draw the line?

In a referendum held on August 18, 2007, 60 percent of the people of the Maldives overwhelmingly decided on a Presidential system of government.

In 2008 a new Constitution came into force, taking into consideration the doctrine of the separation of powers and incorporating the ideas of checks and balances.

The executive branch separated from the legislative, and the judiciary began working independently. The Constitution is clear about the extent of the powers of each entity, the demarcations clearly drawn.

The powers and duties of the President, elected directly by the people, are clearly defined by the Constitution. There is a clear demarcation line drawn between the two spheres of influence: the legislative branch and the executive. It allows the separate powers to act independently while understanding the need for co-operation between these entities.

The legislature, staffed by members directly elected by the people, is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend and repeal laws. Article 5 of the Constitution vests the Peoples’ Majlis with all the power to enact necessary legislation.

In addition, the legislature has the authority to pass bills related to the lowering or raising of taxes, adopting the national budget and related money bills.

The executive branch is unipersonal, meaning that all executive power lies with the President. Members of the Cabinet are appointed by the President, held legally responsible, and are expected to implement the policies of the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of the government. It is the President’s prerogative under the Presidential system to direct members of the Cabinet, the military or any officer or employees of the executive branch.

The President’s power, however, does not extend into the domain of the judiciary: he generally has no power to dismiss or pass orders to judges.

The fact that a Presidential system seperates the executive from the legislature is sometimes held up as an advantage, in that each branch may scrutinize the actions of the other.

The question we are grappling with here is whether the legislature has the power under the Constitution to announce for applicants, interview, shortlist and hire members into State institutions.

While the Presidential system empowers legislative approval of Presidential nominations to the Cabinet as well as various other government posts such as judges and members of independent commissions, it does not allow the legislature to encroach into this sphere of influence that is specifically the domain of executive power.

A clear line has to be drawn between nomination and appointment of members of state institutions within the executive domain and approval and accountability which is the prerogative of the legislature.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

DRP files case against Z-faction for using its logo and name

The opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) led by Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has lodged a complaint with the Elections Commission (EC) alleging that the party’s Z-DRP faction, led by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, had misappropriated DRP’s name and logo to conduct unauthorised political activities, and requested the EC take action against the faction.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef told Minivan News that the party’s real concern was not that the faction was using its logo and name, which DRP MP Nihan has claimed he designed and retained rights to.

‘’It is a much greater concern when people claiming to represent [the party’s] administration and claiming to work to protect the rule of law come out and start violating those laws,’’ said Shareef. ‘’If that is the case, the public might develop a habit of disrespecting the law, and the whole nation may be affected because of this.’’

Shareef explained that the public was “new to democracy” and the principles of it, and said that leaders needed to set an example.

‘’We might think this is very funny and that this is a joke,’’ he said. ‘’But it’s much more dangerous than we thought, and it has more concerns behind it.’’

Shareef said that all political parties should respect their charters and follow it, “for it is not Gayoom’s, Thasmeen’s or my idea.”

‘’Humans do not last forever, and neither does the person in the leadership position, but when people fade away there will be the charter left behind,’’ Shareef said. ‘’That is why people need to follow it, otherwise when the leader dies, the party will die with him.’’

Furthermore, Shareef said that if the country goes on moving in the same direction, “tomorrow one might take an oath and say ‘I am the president now, see I have more supporters than the current president, see all those people who come out for protests whenever I ask.’’’

MP with the Z-DRP faction Ahmed Mahlouf and Umar Naseer did not respond to Minivan News at time of press, while MP Ahmed Nihan was unavailable.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

IMF pursues government and parliament cost cutting with Maldives mission

The Maldives government has claimed it remains committed to working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in addressing its concerns on cutting state expenditure, following protests claimed to have been instigated as part of a “youth movement” concerned over rising living costs.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair told Minivan News that the IMF had travelled to the Maldives this week to meet with various organisations and individuals, including President Mohamed Nasheed and the Majlis’ Public Finance Committee as part of a mission to oversee a national economic recovery plan.

“They were visiting as part of a wider mission in the country including meeting with the president where they retread concerns over plans to reduce state expenditure,” he said.

The government’s fiscal policy has become a major national issue after a week of consecutive protests held earlier this month across Male’, which organisers claimed had been instigated initially by young Maldivians and supported by opposition politicians.

Protesters are said to have been particularly concerned with the government’s controversial decision to last month devalue its currency, allowing the rufiya to be traded within 20 percent of the pegged rate of Rf12.85 to the dollar – a move welcomed by the IMF.

Amidst the backdrop of perceived public and political dissatisfaction with government finances, Zuhair said that the IMF’s meeting with the Public Finance Committee had aimed to encourage parliament to consider government initiatives to try and increase direct state revenues to balance budget deficits.

“There are several bills on taxation currently under consideration in parliament and an amendment to the Tourism Goods and Services Tax (GST) – implemented in January this year on all services and goods purchased by tourists – from 3.5 percent to five percent,” he said. “I think it is interesting to note that there are many resort owners in parliament.”

While supporting initiatives to reduce costs that have led to ongoing public protests in the country, the Treasurer of The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor, said that the the planned addition of a minimum wage and a Goods and Services Tax (GST) on all businesses operating in the country needed to be gradually implemented.

Speaking earlier this month, Abdul Gafoor claimed that gradual introduction would be vital to ensure the nation’s fledgling economy can cope with any potential changes.

Alongside a parallel aim to try and create new job opportunities for young people, Zuhair claimed that the government had in general been closely following the recommendations of the IMF in trying to cut the state’s wage bill for political appointees and civil servants.

To this end, he said that the government had moved to try and reduce the wages of political appointees by 20 percent and civil servants by 15 percent.

“In enacting these cuts we were hoping that the Majlis would follow and also cut wages. The institution failed to do this as well as the judiciary,” he claimed. “The government as a result had to move to reinstate the wages it had cut.”

Zuhair claimed that the government had been working in line with IMF recommendations and had even tried to perform additional cuts unrequested by the finance body in areas such as reducing appointee wage spending.

Despite pushing ahead with its attempted financial reforms, the government has said that it has opted to meet with some of the youth figures said to be at the heart of organising protests seen in Male’ this month.

However, the session held yesterday was reportedly cut short when Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz walked out at the meeting claiming that the youth delegation included the leader of the opposition-allied People’s Alliance (PA) sports wing, and two others he claimed were “new political figures” created by senior party officials.

“I waited in the meeting until we could address the real issues, but they kept on criticising the government policy and some of the government projects,’’ Inaz told Minivan News. ‘’I did not want to have a heated political debate – we went there to negotiate with the youth regarding the dollar issues, not for a political debate.’’

Mohamed Ahsan, a spokesperson from the youth delegation, said the group was unable to clarify information it wanted from the Finance Ministry as the minister had left the meeting, though senior representatives of the Maldives Monetary Authority remained.

“The MMA officials were very cooperative,” he said. “We found out that the government have not been implementing the MMA’s suggestions to its full extent,’’ said Ahsan. “The MMA clarified almost all the information we required.”

He also said the finance minister “took it politically” because a PA member was present at the meeting.

‘’We have decided to recommence the protests, but due to exams we have temporarily delayed it,’’ he said. ‘’Once the examinations are over we will restart the protests.’’

A first round of negotiations held last week were described as “very upsetting” by the opposition’s Gayoom faction after the delegation accused President’s Office representative Shauna Aminath of stating that the “political solution” to the country’s economic woes was the arrest for the former President.

“We met with four people who claimed to represent youth,” Shauna said. “They presented a piece of paper they said was a youth proposal, but there was almost no discussion of what was on it.
“They talked a little about youth unemployment, and the rising price of milk, cooking oil and petrol. They said that young people did not have enough money to pay for coffees or petrol for their motorbikes.”

The group of four had “repeated the same messages being aired by [opposition] political parties: that the government had sold the airport to GMR, Dhiraggu to [Cable and Wireless], and that six people had control of the entire economy.

“Then they said they understood that the government’s [managed float of the rufiya] was necessary, but were concerned the government had not spoken about it beforehand.”

Back in March, MP for the People’s Alliance (PA) party and a member of the Majlis’ Public Finance Committee said that he believed current government policy was ultimately stifling economic development, claiming administrative costs within the civil service remained a notable problem.

“We have small percentage [of funds] to invest in the economy. We cannot move finances to a higher level though as the government doesn’t have the right policies to do this,” he claimed. “For instance, we need to reduce the number of [inhabited] islands by linking them and cutting the overall number of cost centres required for decentralisation.

The comments were made as the IMF claimed that the Maldives economy remained “unsustainable” even after cuts made to the annual 2011 budget, as it concluded its Article IV consultation earlier during the year.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MDP condemns PA Shareef’s appointment to Elections Commission

)The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has today issued a statement condemning the Elections Commission (EC)’s decision to appoint former Peoples Alliance Party (PA) Secretary General and Spokesperson Ahmed Shareef as the Secretary General of the EC.

‘’MDP believe that anyone appointed for any position at the Elections Commission shall be a person away from influence, independent, fair and a person that would not protect the interest of a specific person,’’ said MDP in the statement.

MDP said it regretted that the commission would appoint a political figure to the commission and condemned the action “in strongest possible terms.”

Former Spokesperson of MDP Ahmed Haleem told Minivan News that ‘’as long as Shareef is in that position, this country can never hold free and fair elections.’’

Haleem said if he remained in the post, it will cause to “violence following future elections as people to question the fairness of the elections.”

‘’He is a person definitely adapted to a political idea and he will have his own interest,’’ Haleem claimed. ‘’The Elections Commission is the commission that has to be most fair and independent.’’

He also said the new President of MDP Dr Ibrahim Didi “will do anything that he has to, to solve this issue.”

Secretary General of EC Ibrahim Shareef told Minvan News that he had resigned from his post in the PA earlier this month and “resigned from politics.”

‘’My position in PA then was not also a political position, it was more an administrative position and it was my job then, I worked there as an employee,’’ Shareef said. ‘’Now I am in a non-political position and I will work independently.’’

Shareef said he was “very confident” that his actions would not be those claimed by the MDP.

‘’I assure the people that my actions will not be like that,’’ he said. ‘’I will follow the EC rules and regulations as well as the constitution and other laws and continue my work sincerely.’’

President of Elections Commission Fuad Thaufeeq did not respond to Minivan News at times of press.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Comment: Every person injured in protests leaves behind a trial of bitterness

The last few days have seen bitter times in the republic island of the Maldives. The cost of living has risen heavily, causing thousands to come out on the streets in protest. Street protests are not new to the Maldives; only this time around, the anger is directed against a democratically-elected government rather than a dictatorial regime. This means that irrespective of whether the protests are lawful or not, the police response needs to be lawful.

But the police treatment of demonstrators under the new government has been well below mark. Although MPS is unarmed, excesses committed by police officers, through means such as tear gas, police baton, arbitrary arrests and detention, has been a recurring matter of concern. In October 2010, the Maldives police were alleged to have reacted with excessive force against journalists covering the demonstrations by the main opposition party, the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP). In the ongoing ‘cost of living’ protests, the police were alleged to have arrested over 300 people (though the majority were released subsequently) whereas over 75 people were reportedly injured in the span of 10 days of protest.

Notwithstanding the veracity of such claims, it is clear that crowd control is going to remain a challenge for the police. What then are the principles governing public order management?

The starting point for policing public protest is the presumption in favour of facilitating peaceful assembly (Article 21, ICCPR). Public protest is an important democratic activity and peaceful intentions should be presumed unless there is compelling evidence that those organizing or participating in a particular event will themselves use, advocate or incite violence. This places both positive and negative duties on the police (Keeping the Peace: Manual of Guidance, UK).

The negative duty means that the police must not prevent, restrict, or hinder peaceful assembly except to the extent allowed by law. Positive duty entails safeguarding the right to peaceful assembly. In case of a threat of disruption or disorder, the law allows police officers to use force but only when other ‘non-violent means have been tried and proved ineffective’. In other words, force must be used as a last resort.

Once the decision of using force has been taken, the guiding principle is the minimum use of force. This means that any use of force must be reasonable in the circumstances. But what does reasonable mean? As per international law and best practices, reasonable has come to mean the following:

One, the use of force must be proportionate to the lawful objective to be achieved and to the ‘seriousness of the offence’. In any public gathering or protests, the lawful objective is only to minimize chance of violence and not to disperse the crowd.

Second, the use of force by the police must be lawful: necessary for a purpose permitted by law such as self-defense, defense of another, to prevent crime, to protect life, or unlawful action. For this, it is important for the police rules or regulations of any country to provide guidelines on specific circumstances under which the police may carry firearms, warnings to be given before firearms are to be discharged, reporting system whenever officials use firearms in the performance of their duty etc. Such guidelines are important by way of minimizing arbitrariness in police action.

There is little information on whether the MPS has formulated such rules on crowd control. Notably, this is a theme missing in the otherwise comprehensive Strategic Plan 2007-2011 of the Maldives Police Service.

Whenever use of force is necessary, it is the duty of the police to respect and protect human life, minimise damage and injury, provide assistance and aid to those injured and ensure that a relative or close friend of the injured or affected person is notified at the earliest possible opportunity.

Following these guidelines on the ground, however, can be difficult. Determining the import of terms such as ‘seriousness of offence,’ ‘ineffectiveness of non-violent means,’ or even the time of intervention are all, ultimately, matter of discretion. Much depends on the judgment and understanding of the officer on ground. These difficulties are real, but it is precisely to address such challenges that post-incident accountability assumes significance.

For this, the police are required to follow safeguards at the time of use of force such as identify themselves as police, give a clear warning of their intent to use force firearms, and allow enough time for the warning to be observed unless it places the police at risk or creates risk of death or serious harm to others. The use of firearms mandates additional safeguards such as submission of an incident report to the competent authorities (UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, Article 3). Although firearms have not been used in the Maldives in a long time, such safeguards are of equal value even in other forms of force used such as tear gas in this instance. Moreover, to avoid and reduce arbitrariness of officers while in action, the decision to use force must be taken by senior office, adequately trained into making sound judgments.

Often, the police complain that such measures are difficult to follow and situations generally can turn so quickly that not enough room is left for following the standard. However it is exactly these kind of situations for which the police need to equip and train themselves. Training in fact needs to orient police officers to the basic requirement of minimial force and minimal damage rather than the obvious tendency of grave harm. The accountability for actions cannot be avoided and in fact the police should be more open to scrutiny which alone will help build its capability of managing public disorder; and also boost its public image as a force willing to work within the confines of law.

It is, therefore, crucial that the government/MPS conducts an inquiry into the protests to determine whether these guidelines were followed. Every person injured in protests leaves behind a trial of bitterness. This is hardly conducive to gaining trust and confidence of the people, something that the MPS is striving hard to achieve (as is reflected in their Strategic Plans). Officers will do well to remember that their actions in these formative years of democracy in the island will most likely set the tone for its relationship with the community. As such, the development of a comprehensive system for managing public order that accords with international standards is a priority. Legislation that governs the management of public order by the police, and builds a co-operative relationship between the police and the public, is needed.

Navaz Kotwal and Devyani Srivastava work with the Access to Justice Programme, part of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Umar Naseer challenges legitimacy of Thasmeen’s leadership

The Elections Commission (EC) has said that it still considers Ahmed Thasmeen Ali to be the leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) despite a technicality that dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer claims disqualifies him from the position for failing to report the minutes of the party congress at which he was appointed.

Naseer made the claims yesterday in a text message sent to local media, alleging Thasmeen’s apparent failure to submit the minutes of the 2010 party congress to the EC within 15 days.

According to the message, this means that under party rules, Thasmeen should no longer officially be recognised by the commission as the party head.

An EC spokesperson claimed that although the party had failed to submit the minutes and recordings of last year’s DRP congress, during which it outlined its current leadership as required under its regulations, the commission did not have the mandate to disqualify Thasmeen from his appointment on such grounds.

“Thasmeen has failed to submit the minutes of 2010 DRP Congress to the Elections Commission within 15 days as stipulated by ‘Siyaasee Party ge Qavaaidh 2005,’” Umar claimed in a release sent by SMS. “It means that as far as the (EC) is concerned, Thasmeen is not the leader of the DRP.”

Umar Naseer, Thasmeen and fellow DRP MP Ahmed Maussom were either unavailable or unwilling to comment on the issue when contacted by Minivan News.

However, DRP MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News that claims that Thasmeen could no longer be considered as the head of the DRP first surfaced yesterday evening in a report by local media organisation SunFM.

Nihan, citing SunFM, claimed that under the EC’s own mandate, details and a recording of the national congress held by the party to approve new leadership needed to be sent to the regulatory body within 15 days of the event being held.

The DRP MP claimed this still had not happened so far, representing a “clear breach” of party regulation by its leader.

Nihan, himself a supporter of the Z-DRP faction of the party that is critical of Thasmeen’s leadership, said he believed the matter was not just an administrative error and had serious implications for the party.

“This is very serious, the smallest matter can often have the largest consequence and the EC must find a way to solve the issue,” he said. “We [as a party] must do things according to laws and procedure and Thasmeen should be accountable for his mismanagement.”

In addressing the EC’s claims that it could not remove Thasmeen for failing to supply minutes from the congress, Nihan claimed that the body should also probe the DRP leader for potentially breaking the party’s laws and regulations.

The MP added that although he had not received any official notice that the DRP’s leadership were meeting about the matter, as a council member for the party he expected an official response from the Thasmeen’s side by the evening. “I’m sure a meeting will have taken place today about this, but I have no details,” he said.

Addressing the claims, EC Vice President Ahmed Hassan Fayaz told Minivan News that although he was aware of a clause in the party’s existing regulations relating to supplying official minutes to the commission, the EC did not have authority to strip a party leader of his position.

“When you to fail to inform the EC of a party decision such as a leadership, we cannot reject that person’s authority, it doesn’t work like that,” he said. “For example, when someone is born, if health authorities are not informed of the birth it does not mean that the child does not exist.”

Fayaz claimed that Thasmeen’s appointment at the congress, which was supported by Gayoom before he became openly critical of his successor earlier this year, had been witnessed by hundreds of party delegates as well as covered by local media ensuring that it was well-documented decision.

The EC vice president said that the issue was therefore an internal party issue for members.

“Perhaps the party secretariat failed to provide the minutes [within the deadline],” he said. Fayaz claimed that the DRP regulations relating to submission of the minutes did not give the EC the power to remove the party’s leader from his post. “If a formal complaint was made over the issue than we would look into it,” he said. “However, it would more be in a manner where we would offer advice to the party on how to proceed with this matter. We cannot dictate to the DRP about leadership if it has failed to inform us of its minutes.”

The claims that Thasmeen should no longer be registered as the head of the DRP reflect an increasingly bitter divide between two different factions that are contesting to represent themselves as the country’s main opposition party to the public.

Umar Naseer’s dismissal by the party last December led to factional infighting in the party between the serving leader and other MPs loyal to Naseer and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who founded the party back in 2005.

Since then, each of these factions has engaged in criticism of each other resulting in threats of potential legal action and separate presidential bids.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Finance Minister walks out of negotiations with “politically influenced” youth

Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz yesterda  walked out of a meeting with several young people claiming to represent the ‘concerned youth’ behind the recent week of violent protests in the capital Male’.

Governor of Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) Fazeel Najeeb also attended the meeting.

The faction of the opposition party loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom have maintained that the protests over rising commodity prices were “youth-led”.

‘’I waited in the meeting until we could address the real issues, but they kept on criticising the government policy and some of the government projects,’’ Inaz told Minivan News. ‘’I did not want to have a heated political debate – we went there to negotiate with the youth regarding the dollar issues, not for a political debate.’’

Inaz claimed that the youth delegation included leader of the opposition-allied People’s Alliance (PA) sports wing, and two others he claimed were ‘’new political figures’’ created by senior party officials.

Inaz explained that government needs to find ways to increase its revenue.

‘’Currently 75 percent of the government’s revenue is spent on salaries. The government did try to decrease the salaries but other state institutions did not support the decision,’’ he said. ‘’There are other necessary things to do such as providing electricity, fix sewerage systems and supply water to those in need.’’

Spokesperson from the youth delegation, Mohamed Ahsan, said the delegation was unable to clarify information from the Finance Ministry as the minister left the meeting.

‘’However, the MMA officials were very cooperative,” he said. “We found out that the government have not been implementing the MMA’s suggestions to its full extent,’’ said Ahsan. ‘’The MMA clarified almost all the information we required.’’

He also said the finance minister “took it politically” because a PA member was present at the meeting.

‘’We have decided to recommence the protests, but due to exams we have temporarily delayed it,’’ he said. ‘’Once the examinations are over we will restart the protests.’’

A first round of negotiations held last week were described as “very upsetting” by the opposition’s Gayoom faction after the delegation accused President’s Office represenative Shauna Aminath of stating that the “political solution” to the country’s economic woes was the arrest for the former President.

Shauna did not comment on whether she had suggested Gayoom be arrested, and said the government was unable to officially respond to the delegation because it was unclear who they officially represented.

“We met with four people who claimed to represent youth,” she said. “They presented a piece of paper they said was a youth proposal, but there was almost no discussion of what was on it.

“They talked a little about youth unemployment, and the rising price of milk, cooking oil and petrol. They said that young people did not have enough money to pay for coffees or petrol for their motorbikes.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)