Category: Politics

Parliament passes local elections bill, breaks for recess

Legislation on local council elections was passed today in the last sitting of this year’s first session of parliament.

The bill was voted through with 38 votes in favour, 21 against and two abstentions. All MPs of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in attendance either voted against the bill or abstained.

Last week, the landmark bill on decentralized administration was passed with amendments approved by the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) after MDP MPs (MDP) walked out in protest.

The model of seven provinces for decentralized administration put forward by the government was removed from the draft legislation by the opposition-dominated committee.

Presenting the local council elections bill to the floor, Mohamed Mujthaz, DRP MP for Hanimadhoo and chairman of the review committee, said amendments were made following consultations with the attorney general’s office and Elections Commission.

Further changes were made to bring the bill in line with the amended decentralization bill, he added.

A total of 13 amendments were approved on the floor today. However ammendment submitted by MDP MP Eva Abdullah to give women at least 30 percent of the seats in both atoll and island councils, thrown out by the DRP in a vote.

“By rejecting our ammendent to article 4, [the DRP] have disenfranchised a large part of the population,” she claimed.

The main point of contention in the final debate revolved around the tenure of island and atoll councilors appointed by President Mohamed Nasheed.

However, following discussions between the two main parties, an amendment was passed with bipartisan support to stipulate that, once the council elections are announced, the Civil Service Commission shall designate a civil servant to become the highest-ranking government official in the constituency for the interim period.

Other amendments proposed by MDP MPs, such as omitting a clause that would suspend civil servants who contest elections and setting a 30 per cent quota for women in the councils, were defeated.

An amendment proposed by Nilandhoo MP Abdul Muhsin to ensure job security for losing candidates from the civil service was approved with 41 votes.

Meanwhile, at last night’s MDP rally, Hassan Afeef, political advisor to the president, said the government will follow its policy of grouping atolls into provinces despite the passage of the decentralisation bill.

Although the bill gives too powers over the councils to the government, Afeef said President Nasheed’s administration will empower local councils.

At an earlier rally, “Reeko” Mossa Manik, MDP parliamentary group leader, said the party could pass amendments to the Decentralisation Act to reintroduce provinces.

Speaking to press upon his arrival in Male’ on Sunday night, President Nasheed said he will review the bill before making a decision on ratification.

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Copyright laws presented to parliament

Parliament today voted to proceed with a bill on copy right laws submitted by the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

MPs voted unanimously to send the bill to the economic affairs committee for review.

Introducing the draft legislation, MDP MP Mohamed Thoriq said the proposed copyright laws would create a legal framework to protect intellectual property in the Maldives and thereby “encourage creativity”.

Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Mausoom said while the party supported to the bill, it needed some amendments: ”Software protection was not fully provided in the bill,” he said.

A significant proportion of software used in the Maldives, including by government agencies, are pirated copies. Historically this has been due to the both the ready accessibility of unlicensed software and the comparatively high cost of legitimate licenses in the developed world. For example, a copy of a popular accountancy software package that costs Rf25 (US$2) at a shop in Male’ can run to several thousand US dollars if bought legitimately.

As the bill was connected to the productivity of the country, Mausoom added, it was very important to make it as comprehensive as possible.

Maldivian Democratic Party MDP MP Mohamed Mustafa concurred that the bill was important to the Maldives as ”copyright should be protected in the country.”

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said that the bill was necessary but noted that ”there are amendments that should be brought to the bill.”

Nihan said that there were people who had become mid-level businessmen by selling the pirate copies of softwares and other products.

‘There are fake iPhones, blackberries and other types of mobile phone sold in the market,” he said. ”This business of fake models and products should be prevented.”

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Work permit deposits for expats to be made to Finance Ministry

Deposits made by foreign nationals wishing to work in the Maldives must now be paid to the Ministry of Finance and not the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

Controller of Immigration Ilyas Hussain Ibrahim, said there was no act regarding deposits before, and they were simply kept by the Ministry of Human Resources.

He noted the transfer to the Finance Ministry was “to make administration easier.”

The deposits are required by the government from all foreign nationals applying for a work permit in the Maldives and must be secured before entering the country, an issue that has caused consternation among employers seeking to employ foreign workers.

Chief at the work visa section of the immigration department, Hassan Khaleel, said the amounts were decided by taking into consideration expenses in case the worker needs to be repatriated.

These expenses include the cost of air-fair back to the worker’s home country, accommodation for a few days in custody, food and transport, and medication if needed.

Minister of Human Resources Youth and Sports, Hassan Lateef, said the transfer of the deposits to the Finance Ministry had been a “cabinet decision,” but noted nothing else has changed in the laws and regulations concerning the deposits.

He said the employer must pay the deposit to the ministry and can also claim it back once the worker has gone back to his or her respective country.

Lateef said the money will be used “in case the employer, or the government, wants to send the employee back to their country, or if he or she is admitted into hospital.”

He said the money would not gain any interest and if it is not collected or used, it will “sit in the Finance Ministry” and be “kept safely.”

Indian nationals pay the least, with deposits of Rf 3,500 (US$272). Sri Lankans must pay Rf 4,000 (US$311) and Bangladeshis Rf 8,000 (US$623). The highest deposit required is for Ecuadorian nationals who must pay Rf 49,000 (US$3,813).

A full list of the deposits for each country can be downloaded here.

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China donates over US$20 million in financial assistance

The Chinese government has made two generous donations to the Maldives in the past week, adding to over US$20 million in aid.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, confirmed the Chinese government has granted 50 million Chinese Yuan (US$20 million) in aid plus US$20,000 to go directly to Kudakudhige Hiya children’s home in Vilingili.

The shelter has been experiencing staff shortages recently due to financial difficulties.

Zuhair said the bulk of the money would be allocated towards helping the Maldives “overcome the challenges of the global economic recession,” specifically in infrastructure, sewerage and utilities, roads and climate change adaptation.

He noted the money had not been officially allocated yet and would be looked into shortly.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Naseem, said the money had not yet been officially granted and it was “premature to talk about it” until the final figures came from the Chinese government.

Spokesman Mr Lieu at the Chinese embassy to the Maldives in Colombo confirmed the figure of 50 million Chinese Yuan and added, “the Chinese government has tried its best to help its friend.”

The Chinese government also assisted with the construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the National Museum, which is still under construction.

The money for the Vilingili orphanage was announced by Honourary Consul to the Maldives in Shanghai, Yang Guisheng. The donation was received by First Lady Laila Ali while on an official trip to China last week.

The first lady thanked Guisheng for the generous donation and said the assistance was much needed for a centre like Kudakudhige Hiya.

Deputy Minister of Health and Family Mariya Ali said the funds ”will really help” the centre, and will be prioritised towards “enforcing security in the building.”

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Maldives among few countries to improve press freedom

UNESCO World Press Freedom Day began with the news that the Maldives index has improved slightly following its 53 point leap last year, an achievement attributed to the new Constitution.

The Maldives is now ranked 102, equal place with Tanzina and Albania and marginally ahead of Turkey and Indonesia. The Maldives is still categorised as ‘partly free’, the reasons for which should be revealed when the country report is released in the coming days.

The rise came despite recent gang violence directed at media organisations and an attempt by police to block radio news coverage following emphatic protests outside MNDF headquarters and the President’s residence in January, drawing concern from the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) and a number of media outlets.

Worldwide the index declined across almost every region in the world, for the eighth consecutive year, with one in six people now living in an environment without a free press. The only region to improve was Asia-Pacific, with significant strides in Bangladesh and Bhutan.

According to Freedom House, the international body that runs the index, countries are assessed on the developments of each calendar year, including the legal environment in which media operate, political influences and economic pressures.

Meanwhile, the two-day South Asia Regional Consultation on Freedom of Information: The Right to Know was launched in Holiday Inn this morning, by Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture Dr Ali Sawad.

Delegates from the media, government and civil society organisations in countries including Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka met discuss the development and implementation of freedom of information laws as a means of combating corruption and enshrining free press as a fourth estate.

In a video address, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova noted that “every time we turn on the TV, turn on radio or go on the internet, the quality of what we hear depends on media having acess to accurate and up to date information.”

“The obstacles in the way of our right to know take many forms,” she said, “from lack of resources, to lack of infrastructure to deliberate obstruction. Far too many journalists suffer harassment, intimidation, and physical assault – all in a day’s work.”

Bokova called on government and civil society “to promote freedom of information all over the world.”

Many of the sessions on the first day of the conference focused around promoting freedom of information laws at a state level, however media representatives from countries including Bangladesh and Bhutan noted that even where freedom of information laws were available, they were not always used effectively by journalists.

Dehli Bureau Chief of The Hindu and keynote speaker Siddharth Varadarajan implied that freedom of information laws were less critical to freedom of the press “than our inability as journalists to transcend market forces and commercial considerations… and tendency to report trivia.”

Newspapers in India regularly sold “campaign coverage packages” to politicians come election season, he noted, a practice which “seriously compromises citizens’ trust in media content.”

A further consequence of such practices, he added, was a sense of dissatisfaction among journalists “at our inability to use the power at our disposal.”

“We have a responsiblity to be tougher, harder, and to call a spade a spade,” he said.

In his address, Dr Sawad similarly emphasised the responsibilities that came with the freedom of the press.

“With every right comes responsibilities,” Dr Sawad said. “In a free nation with free expression, the media must not forget its obligations to citizens to report fairly and accurately.”

The Maldives, he said, “has a very young free media, coming out of a culture where it was state owned and regulated. We have the challenge of dispelling the myth that the state represents media.”

Dr Sawad explained since its election, the current government “has committed to a step-by-step dismantling of the Department of Information, formerly the ministry of Information, to replace it with a stronger private media.”

State broadcasters Television Maldives (TVM) and radio station Voice of Maldives (VoM) had been placed under the new Maldivies National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC), “a separate corporate entity with its own board and budget.”

A key challenge for the fledgling private media however was capacity building and training of its journalists, he explained.

“Private media has a very hard task. A lot of you are just past high school, with a keen professional interest in the field. But as we settle down and lay the foundations of democracy, we have to have to have the capacity to deliver democracy. You cannot give that objective to someone without the capacity to deliver it – the government has delivered democracy, but it has yet to be delivered to the people. ”

“Before the government lies the task of training, educating and strengthening the free press. As we celebrate UNESCO World Press Freedom Day, I call on the media to take up the challenge to deliver democracy with a sense of responsibility.”

The sessions continue tomorrow when President Mohamed Nasheed will launch the Journalist of the Year Award and Sukumar Muralidharan from the South Asian Chapter of the International Federation of Journalists will launch the South Asia Press Freedom Report.

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Election dream still alive, says Dr Hassan Saeed

The dream of the 2008 presidential campaign is still alive and within reach of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), its newly elected leader Dr Hassan Saeed has said.

Speaking at the party’s first congress on Saturday night at Bandos Island Resort, Dr Saeed, who resigned from both the former and current governments, said it was not too late to realise the aspirations of his presidential campaign.

“Our leaders don’t have to always go begging to Europe or the Middle East,” he said. “[Our leaders] won’t have to say with pride that I begged more and secured more money than my predecessor.”

Dr Saeed said Maldivian politicians have never ruled to serve the the people: “They rule to fill their pockets.”

Hard times

Apart from difficult economic circumstances, Saeed continued, islanders were struggling to pay their electricity bills, the cost of living was rising and the government was ruthlessly dismissing elderly security guards.

Dr Saeed said his law firm, Raajje Chambers, was under pressure from banks to take prominent businessmen and resort owners to court to reclaim unpaid loans.

“As a result, it is likely that many resort owners in the country will go bankrupt in the near future,” he said. “Thousands of employees could lose their jobs.”

Meanwhile, development of over 60 resorts was stalled due to failure to secure loans.

While government expenditure increased threefold in the past five years, the quality of life for citizens has not seen any improvement.

“Political posts have increased from 500 to 1,000,” he said. “But has the service from political appointees to the people similarly increased? It has not. The number of police officers has increased by thousands. Crime has not fallen. As the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court in 2003, I earned Rf4,000 (a month). Today the person in that post receives Rf30,500. Has the justice system been strengthened? Has [the judicial process] become faster?”

Moreover, he added, the number of embassies abroad has increased threefold without a corresponding spike in foreign investment.

Looming bankruptcy

The state of affairs today was so dire that local businesses were unable to get foreign loans at an interest rate of even 12 per cent, said Saeed.

“The 65 resorts in the country have not been developed because they couldn’t get loans at even 15 per cent, let alone 12,” he said.

Moreover, he added, the government was giving away assets cheaply and handing over management of schools to foreign parties without considering the benefits to the Maldivian people.

The former special advisor to the president said the government has not given any thought to enriching Maldivian businesses or putting struggling small business back on their feet.

“Maldivians are a talented, educated, young and industrious people,” he said. “All that Maldivians need is just a little opportunity. What Maldivians want is a day when they won’t be forced to fill a form to join the ruling party whenever there is a change of government.”

He added the DQP will not falter in its “national jihad” and would work together with other parties to reach its goals.

“God willing, we will win the upcoming local council elections and the presidential elections after that,” he said.

Power

In his speech, Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who was dismissed from his cabinet post last year, said the country was in a state of “despair and hopelessness”.

Those who had claimed not to want power was now trying to stay in power at all costs, he said.

While the former government spent Rf4.8 million a month on political appointees, he said, the figure has climbed to Rf9.1 million a month under the Nasheed administration.

Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, one of the party’s two MPs, said the party has now matured and was ready to play its part in the political arena.

“We did not come out to topple the government. We will try to hold the government accountable…[Only] the people can change the government,” he said.

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“We inherited an economy in crisis”: President Nasheed

The Maldives faced the worst economic situation of any country undergoing democratic transition, according to World Bank statistics for the last 50 years, President Mohamed Nasheed has said.

In his address at the 16th SAARC Summit last week, President Nasheed said the global recession hit the domestic economy hard at a time when the country was “still adjusting to the recent shift from authoritarianism to democracy”.

While the transition has been “smooth, secure and stable” in the first 18 months of democratic governance, said Nasheed, the new administration inherited “an economy in crisis”.

“In the years leading up to the 2008 presidential elections, the former administration went on a spending spree that almost bankrupted the country. Public expenditure was at a peak of 64% of GDP in 2008,” he said.  “We took over a budget where 70% of government revenue was spent on public sector wages. Our administration inherited a huge national debt. Our deficit in 2009 was set to be at 33% of GDP.”

But, he added, the deficit was reduced to 28 per cent of GDP through austerity measures introduced last year, including controversial and unpopular pay cuts for civil servants.

Among other measures taken by the government to alleviate the budget deficit were cutbacks on foreign travel and a freeze on non-essential expenditure.

In addition, the new government was “bequeathed millions of dollars of unpaid bills”.

While the Maldives continue to face serious budgetary shortfalls, the government was determined to “implement structural reforms that will set the economy on a straight course”.

The president’s remarks were lampooned at the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) rally last week as “humiliating” the country in the international arena.

Moreover, opposition parties have strongly condemned the government for disregarding campaign pledges by enforcing pay cuts and hiking electricity tariffs.

Economic outlook

The Asian Development’s Banks annual flagship economic publication, the Asian Development Outlook 2010, released last month noted that reckless fiscal expansion and a recession-induced drop in tourism “have taken the economy to the brink of crisis”.

The fiscal expansion of the past few years was “excessive”, the report notes, as it included large increases both in public sector wages and subsidies.

“It pushed budget expenditure to 63% of GDP by 2008 and the overall deficit to 17% of GDP,” it reads.

Meanwhile, the deficit spending led to “a marked balance-of-payments deterioration”, which, coupled with the impact of the global recession, threatened macroeconomic stability.

Consequently, GDP tumbled in 2009 by nine percentage points due to contractions in the tourism, construction and fisheries industries.

While GDP is projected to grow by 3 per cent this yyear, the report notes that economic outlook depends on the performance of tourism and fisheries “as well as the government’s ability to push through its reform measures”.

Apart from cuts in spending, the economic reform programme initiated by the current government includes broadening the revenue base by raising airport service charges, introducing a business profit tax and transforming the tourism bed tax into a goods and services tax.

“In order to align expenditures with revenues, the government is streamlining administrative machinery by downsizing the civil service, reducing electricity subsidies, and linking power tariff adjustments to cost of inputs twice a year,” it reads. “The government also plans to privatize parts of the extensive network of state-owned enterprises.”

In December 2009, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a US$79.3 million standby arrangement US$13.2 million under a program to deal with external shocks.

As the role of monetary policy was limited with the currency pegged to the US dollar, the report advises that fiscal policy has to “play the greater role in demand management and economic stabilization”.

Weak institutions and human resource deficiencies, including “the fragmented structure of government”, were identified as major constraints to economic growth.

Moreover, the report notes that the government’s policy of grouping atolls into seven provinces to develop regional administration and economic centres was “a tall order” as the government “aims to reduce the cost to itself at the same time”.

Globe-trotter

In his radio address on Friday, the president said he received a text message from a resident of an “isolated island”.

The person observed that the president was “always abroad” and implied that he was neglecting domestic affairs.

The president arrived in China yesterday to open the Maldives pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010.

Addressing the concerns in his radio address, the president said he would leave “no stone unturned” in his efforts to secure aid and assistance for development projects.

“I have to go to all these places. I have to talk to a lot of people. I have to do a considerable amount of work to secure financial support, projects and assistance for the country,” he said, adding that he did not enjoy travelling.

Meanwhile, in his speech at the summit, Nasheed said he was under “tremendous pressure” to prosecute members of the former regime accused of corruption and torture.

He added that it was “understandable” for people who had been wronged in the past to seek justice and reparations.

“It is particularly difficult to forgive people, when they refuse to say sorry for the hurt they have caused,” he said. “But I am loath to act against the former regime. If we took action against everyone implicated in corruption and torture, we would end up arresting most of the opposition. I do not believe that arresting the opposition, is the best way to build a healthy democracy.”

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Departing doctors leave IGMH unable to provide outpatient services to children

An acute lack of pediatric specialists in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has forced the hospital to temporarily close outpatient services for children, who make up 40 percent of the hospital’s patients.

Zubair Mohamed, Managing Director of Male’ Health Services Corporation – formerly the Chief Executive Officer of IGMH – said that there were only four pediatricians left after many left claiming to have family and personal problems, while others departed on vacation.

Zubair said that low wages and poor allowances were leading doctors to resign and return to their own countries.

”Most of the good doctors we have are from India,” Zubair said.

”They get almost the same salary as if they worked in India, so it’s not worth it for them to work here.”

A recent salary increase for doctors in India has made it even harder for the Maldives to attract and retain qualified medical staff.

Zubair said that the remaining four pediatricians were now working 24 hours on-call in the emergency and IPD units.

”Forty percent of the patients who come to the hospital are children,” Zubair said. ”They are a large group of patients.”

He said that patients hospitalised were now being given more priority than the patients who visited for diagnosis or treatment.

A pediatrician and a second doctor – a talented psychiatric specialist – left the hospital last week on vacation and have not returned.

”They usually leave saying that they have family and personal issues,” Zubair said. ”Only a few directly say that they cannot work for the low salary.”

As a consequence there would be no outpatient pediatric services available this week, he said.

”Hopefully we will get new pediatricians for the hospital very soon and restart services,” Zubair said. ”We need at least six doctors.”

Future of IGMH

When IGMH begins running as a corporation the salaries of doctors will rise and allowances will increase, Zubair promised.

”Right now all the doctors classed are civil servants, ” he explained, ”so we have to follow the regulations of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and cannot provide them the allowances and salary as we would prefer.”

He said the new corporation had held a meeting with the CSC and discussed the matter, and estimated that it would take three months to start IGMH as a health services corporation.

Spokesperson for the CSC Fahmy Hassan said that the Male’ Health Corporation had held a meeting with the commission but ”it was not to discuss the doctor salaries.”

Fahmy said the commission in January asked the Finance Ministry how much they would be able to pay for the doctors salary and said that the commission was not legally authorised to pay any salary the commission wanted.

”We are now paying them the highest possible salary the Finance Ministry has agreed to give,” he said. ”We cannot pay a salary Finance Ministry disagrees with.”

Press secretary for the president Mohamed Zuhair said that the government had nothing to do with the CSC’s code of salary.

”The government will try to solve the problem somehow,” he said.

He said that the salaries of the doctors will increase when IGMH starts running under Male’ Health Corporation, “which was the main reason why we established it,” he said.Permanent Secretary for the Finance Ministry Ismail Shafeeq did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Attorney General appeals to High Court over civil servants’ salaries

The Attorney General sent an appeal to the High Court last Thursday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, regarding last week’s decision in favour of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) concerning civil servant salaries.

Last Tuesday the Civil Court ruled in favour of the CSC in their suit against the Ministry of Finance regarding civil servants’ salaries, which were reduced in October last year. Although the court ruled in favour of the CSC, they did not specify whether the ministry had to restore civil servant salaries.

Speaking to Minivan News last week, member of the CSC Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said he was “confident the Finance ministry will give the salaries as we requested,” after which members of the CSC and the ministry met last Thursday to discuss the issue.

Today Fahmy said they were “very surprised” when they received instruction from the High Court “not to take any action [regarding the salaries] until they have made a decision.”

He said last week, the Finance Ministry “were very positive and we did not think they had any intention to appeal.”

Fahmy said the issue of salary restoration will again be put on hold until the High Court makes its decision. “I don’t know how long this is going to take,” he said. “It depends on whether any party appeals to the Supreme Court.”

He noted the CSC was not planning on appealing the case yet, but it was a possibility which would be looked at depending on how the AG’s appeal process was going.

“This is a very clear case,” Fahmy said, “civil servants cannot be singled out. There are many other staff paid by the government.”

Fahmy noted the CSC would continue with this case “until it is resolved or a decision is made by the highest authority.”

He added the continued reduction of civil servants’ salaries was “against the Constitution.”

Attorney General Husnu Suood said his office was “speaking against points of law involved in the judgement.” Basically, “we are not happy with the interpretation [of the law]” made by the Civil Court last week, he said.

“The interpretation of the law is not correct,” he stated.

Suood said his office along with the Ministry of Finance and the CSC were having “discussions as to how we should proceed with judgement passed by the Civil Court.”

He said although it was “too early to say” whether civil servants would have their salaries restored soon, he was “very hopeful that it will be settled outside of court.”

Suood reiterated the point that they wanted to settle the matter outside of the court system, and this appeal was only meant to speak against the Civil Court’s ruling.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said “in this kind of scenario when they can’t agree,” the appeal is meant to give the Ministry of Finance more time to resolve the issue with the CSC out of court.

He noted Parliament still has not yet passed any of the bills which would provide the government enough revenue to surpass the needed Rf7 billion to restore civil servants’ salaries.

“We will not reach it this year,” Zuhair said, “no bills have been discussed in the house.”

He added the CSC “has no right to demand higher pay” when the government’s revenue is still not beyond the stipulated Rf7 billion.

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