Category: Politics

MPs reject bill banning alcohol, approve bill governing political parties

The parliament yesterday rejected a bill completely banning the importation of alcohol and pork to the Maldives

The bill on banning the importation of alcohol and pork was presented to the parliament by independent MP Ibrahim Muthalib, which he claimed was an amendment to the list of things that cannot not be imported under 75/4 of the law concerning contraband.

15 MPs voted in favour of the bill while 53 MPs voted against it. Four MPs did not vote.

“The last time I presented a bill banning the sale and usage of alcohol on inhabited islands parliament sent it off the floor claiming that it only banned particular areas (inhabited islands),” Muthalib said, upon presenting  the bill.

“This time I am presenting a bill to ban [alcohol and pork] from being brought inside the country at all.”

Almost all of the MPs were against the bill, claiming that it would harm the country’s tourism industry and its economy.

Meanwhile, another bill governing political parties was approved in a near-unanimous vote 68-2.

Maldivian Democratic Party MP Ahmed Abdulla presented the bill to the parliament on behalf of the government, with the stated aim of strengthening the democracy of the country by providing people “a peaceful” way to participate in political activities.

The bill was approved by the vote of 68 MPs, while 2 MPs voted against the bill.

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Australia hosts first diplomatic event in the Maldives

Australian High Commissioner to Colombo and the Maldives, Kathy Klugman, hosted a ‘friendship event’ in Holiday Inn last night, the first time Australia has hosted a diplomatic event in the Maldives.

Klugman said she hoped the event was “the first of many such gatherings to celebrate the links between our two countries.”

“A great deal has changed in the Maldives in the last few years,” she said. “You have commendably made a significant transition to democracy and become a significant international voice in the fight against climate change. The Maldives government has taken a lead in meeting this challenge and Australia stands ready to help.”

Australia had contributed much to the Maldives, particularly in the way of education, Klugman said, announcing that the Australian government had commissioned consultants Coffey International to develop a volunteering and scholarship program involving Maldivian alumni.

“We know many Maldivians have studied in Australia, but we have never brought them together in comprehensive way,” she said. “We promise more parties in future involving Maldives alumni.”

Speaking at the event, President Mohamed Nasheed acknowledged that many Maldivians’ knowledge of Australia “goes as far as Oscar and Lucinda.”

This was because an early generation of Maldivian teachers had travelled to Australia to study their profession, and had returned to pass on their positive impressions to the pupils.

Australia could help the Maldives become “a more intricate part of the Indian Ocean”, Nasheed said, given its favourable position as a potential trading hub.

“We sit in one of the most navigatable parts of the Indian Ocean, with the bulk of trade crossing north of the Maldives or through it. Because everything passes through us it seems quite possible for us to tap into that,” he suggested.

On the subject of the environment, Nasheed noted that the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was the first to suggest that the Copenhagen Accord might be salvaged.

“Before that, a lot of people said they didn’t think [the Accord] would be worth the paper written on it,” Nasheed said. “Now we’re seeing an agreement might be more possible, and much of it is because of the very good work done by the Australian Prime Minister.”

“During all the meetings I found Kevin Rudd to be very friendly and a capable politician. His understanding of small nations and his relationship with many developing countries, especially Bangladesh, was striking – as was his tolerance and attitude to life.”

Nasheed concluded by saying he hoped Australia would strengthen relations with the Maldives by working with it on an increasing number of projects.

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JSC quiet about charges against judges

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is filing charges against Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed and Civil Court Judge Mohamed Naeem, according to a story published on Miadhu today.

According to Miadhu, Judge Mohamed was charged, among other things, of obstructing the judicial procedure and for disciplinary issues, charges which he denied.

The article says the cases against Judge Naeem were charged by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Musthafa and President of Adhaalath Party, Sheikh Hussain Rasheed.

Sheikh Rasheed said in 2008, when he went to court over a defamation case, Judge Mohamed Naeem was the presiding judge.

Sheikh Rasheed said Judge Naeem unlawfully placed him under house arrest, and then had him arrested when he was meant to only get a warning for not showing up at his court hearing.

He then filed an official complaint against Judge Naeem. He said he had to go to the JSC every day to look at the progress of his complaint, so he withdrew his complaint today.

“I can’t waste my time,” he said.

Judge Abdulla Mohamed said he had “not yet” been informed about any charges against him by the JSC and said he had “no idea” what he was being charged of.

The JSC did not comment to Minivan News on the cases.

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Comment: Fixing the economy will be painful

In my last article, I spoke about the seemingly intractable problems that our Maldivian economy faces – most notably the fact that we have spent far too much than is sustainable given our level of economic activity.

The theme here is to talk about how to deal with these problems and the challenges we face in doing so. No doubt explaining the problems – especially with the benefit of hindsight – is much easier than suggesting remedies. Moreover, given the extent of our past excess and misdeeds, the remedies required are likely to be both bitter and painful.

Our immediate problem is how to reduce our fiscal deficit. On a theoretical level – this is quite simple.

Approximately 50 percent of our expenditure is on paying government salaries and allowances – and we can cut down foreign travel, close down our embassies, turn off air conditioners at our offices – but ultimately unless we make some inroads into this important component of public spending – it will be impossible to do anything meaningful.

No doubt, all efforts must be made to reduce waste before we start slashing either incomes or jobs. The higher salary levels must take bigger cuts than the lower paid staff – as the government has already done so.

In reality however, this is both a political and a logistical nightmare. We all know members of family or friends struggling to make ends meet on the current civil service salaries. Laying off a large chunk of the population at a time of an economic crisis seems counterproductive to regenerating the economy.

Logistically, it is complicated because a system of voluntary first-come-first-serve resignations, particularly if the government is willing to forgive their education ‘bonds’, would mean that the most capable civil servants would depart first, leaving us with the least dynamic people actually running government. In an increasingly polarised community, it would be difficult to distinguish between people fired on the basis of professional incompetency or political allegiances.

Difficult though these policies may be, a country that has a third of its total work force working for the government is simply not sustainable. The key therefore becomes how to do this in a manner that has the least negative impact on our economy. For this – three broad initiatives are required.

First and foremost, significant opportunities for retraining must be made available. This must be combined with a public relations campaign on how retraining should be for anyone at any stage of their career. It must also be based on market requirements – with significant impact on developing skills necessary for our economy.

The tourism sector, foreign languages, technical skills, accountancy and business skills are just some of the options. More initiatives can be introduced to both existing and new private providers of training through public-private partnerships.

Other policies that must be pursued include the allocation of reduced rent or free land for private education providers, tax exemptions on educational material, as well as rebates of fees for those who successfully pass courses and find employment.

Secondly, access to credit for starting small businesses must be expanded. The key obstacles to this – particularly the high costs of borrowing from a narrow financial sector – must be addressed. The high costs of borrowing are partly due to the fact that the legal options for banks in the case of non-performance are uncertain.

Furthermore, without a credit information system, there is a significant missing component that makes people more disciplined when paying back their loans.

Last but not least, the fact that we realistically have one-and-a-half banks in the country (BML and to some extent SBI), the market mechanisms forcing these firms to be both efficient and customer orientated is missing. We need to encourage more banks to set up shop in the Maldives – and allow people access to a wide variety of banking products.

Finally, significant incentives must be provided for the private sector to start employing more Maldivians. This must be done first and foremost by revising our labour law. The existing legislation is overly burdensome and expensive for businesses – and more flexibility must be allowed.

With the coming of a new taxation mechanism, significant leeway must exist for the government to provide rebates and other incentives for those who employ more Maldivians. Start-up companies must also be provided with exemptions – particularly in strategic sectors deemed important for long-term growth.

However, even if we can introduce these policies – and this is a big ‘if’ given our intractable inability to get anything done within this political system – let us also not kid ourselves into thinking it would not involve a significant amount of hardship.

Even with countless retraining facilities, or access to credit or even benefits for private sector to employ locals – there will be a group of people simply unable to maintain their existing living conditions and as such their situation will no doubt deteriorate. One must assume that the current ‘pickiness’ of the local population to defer certain kinds of jobs to foreigners must also be revisited.

For those vulnerable groups, basic levels of protection – particularly in terms of access to healthcare and education – must be allowed. The current trajectory of the Government’s Madhanaa (health insurance) policy must therefore continue – and perhaps must be provided at subsidised rate to those unable to find jobs.

On a more fundamental level therefore, what we are looking at is a paradigm shift in the role of the state. If you take a long-term view of the Maldivian economy – it was effectively characterised by a system of subsistence fisheries and small scale agriculture – with the government earning revenue from trading of the excess products generated from these primary industries.

The country therefore had a system of governance that effectively involved a (selectively) benevolent state providing welfare for those that it deemed worthy – especially through jobs. Furthermore, the direct arm of the government – being mostly in Male – was felt on a smaller percentage of the people because the population of the country was more evenly distributed.

With the emergence of tourism however, we saw a dynamic private sector go on to take the driving seat of the economy. The state no longer has, or should have, the resources to provide direct employment to the people on such a large scale. No doubt, a basic level of protection to all must be provided – and what constitutes this basic level will continue to be debated for years to come. The role of the state must now become that of the regulator and the facilitator – allowing jobs, productivity and wealth to originate and be distributed according to forces of a dynamic market system.

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]

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“Do we really need political parties?”: Dr Mausoom

A bill on political parties presented to the parliament by the government yesterday triggered debate over the merits of the political system in the Maldives.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Abdulla presented the bill to the parliament on behalf of the government, with the stated aim of strengthen the democracy of the country and to provide a peaceful way to participate in political activities.

The bill contained aspects such as what a political party should and should not do and how members should be disciplined, how political parties can legally earn money and how a person can resign and join another political party.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Abdulla Mausoom said that the country was “now in chaos because of the invention of political parties.”

”The peacefulness and unity among us has changed,’ ‘Mausoom said. ”The question in our hearts is: ‘Do we really need political parties?’.”

He proposed to amend the article 18 of the bill in the committee stage.

Independent MP Ahmed Amir said that the question on his mind was why MPs were not included in the list of people “who cannot be a member of any political party.”

Amir claimed that the majority of the population “does not support political parties in the country.”

“More than 50 per-cent of the population of above the age of 18 is not involved in any political party,” he said.

DRP MP Rozaina Adam said that now it was too late to make bills governing the conduct of political parties.

Rozaina proposed to add a article whereby the Elections Commission (EC) was obligated to provide places for political parties to hold their meetings.

”When the opposition tries to hold a meeting we don’t usually get a place,” she claimed. ”So I suggest we design the bill in a way that political parties would have to get permission from the EC to hold meetings and they provides a place.”

She said that she had noticed that the screening of private phone calls was now very popular.

”I see they regularly screen our private phone calls – I wonder if this would not be spying, a power that the government has,” she said. ”I wish that when the bill gets passed there would be a solution for these types of things.”

MDP Chairperson and MP Mariya Ahmed Didi said she recalled a time when political parties were not registered, on the assumption that the invention of a political party system would disperse society.

”But people sought in their own ways to express their opinions and raised their voice for a political party system,” she said, ”and after listening to their voices parliament made a law permitting parties.”

She said that independent MPs also work together as a political party.

”They also holds meetings among them and speak one word,” she said.

DRP MP Ahmed Mohamed said he was against party system “now and then.”

”Forming a political party in a such small country is like playing with fire,” Mohamed said.

”I say, we hold a vote to see if people like or dislike having political parties,” he said. ”Like other MPs have said, the majority of the population does not belong to any political party.”

”In a family, Mum, Dad and their kids are in different parties, so the unity among them gets ruined,” he said.

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Residential Properties Bill accepted by Parliament

The Residential Properties Bill intended to regulate the housing rental industry has been accepted by Parliament.

Independent MP for Kulhudhuffushi-South, Mohamed Nasheed originally presented the bill to the Parliament in November 2009, which aims to protect the rights of both tenants and landlords. It has been in the queue system since.

The bill was widely based upon the Residential Tenancies Act (1987) of New South Wales, Australia, and proposes the creation of a tenancy deposit scheme, with deposits made at the start of a tenancy to be held by the government rather than individual landlords.

There would be a limit on how much the deposit could be and tenants would have the right to appeal if they believe they are not getting a fair rental price.

When he first presented the bill in 2009, Nasheed told Minivan News stricter housing regulations are necessary in a city as overcrowded as Malé, where demand for accommodation dramatically outstrips supply, leaving tenants vulnerable to unscrupulous landlords.

Even then, Nasheed admitted the bill was controversial and said he was unsure it would be passed as it was, but now that it has been accepted by the Majlis, Nasheed said he has “greater hope that a compromise will be reached between those who agree with it and those who don’t.”

“I basically looked at it from a consumer protection point of view,” he said. “So far [housing] has been regulated by ordinary terms of contract.”

Nasheed said he wanted to protect the rights of both the tenant and the landlord, and hopes the bill will help the market by leaving “less room for undue influence.”

The bill was accepted by 45 votes, “seven votes above majority,” Nasheed noted. It will now be sent to a committee before being sent back to Parliament for approval.

“I hope it will all be over in six months,” Nasheed added.

knocking down house
Demolishing a house in Malé

A holistic approach to the housing crisis

Minister for Housing, Transport and Environment, Mohamed Alsam, said the bill “has got rather ridiculous things in it. It’s very foolish to control the market.”

Aslam said the government was trying a more “holistic approach” to the housing crisis in Malé by “diverting demand elsewhere.”

He said the best thing to do was to improve services in other islands and provinces, so people would want to move out of Malé and back to their homes.

“It’s a national development issue,” he said. “Other parts of the country aren’t attractive enough.”

Aslam said that is where the government’s decentralisation plan comes into play. “We have always seen the issue of housing as a broad development issue, not an isolated thing. If we leave Malé as it is, no law will regulate it.”

Although the minister did admit “certain elements of [the bill] are good,” he said “I don’t think I would go with it.”

Housing in Malé

With a growing population of over 100,000, Malé is among the most densely populated cities on the planet, and the housing crisis is only getting worse as more people migrate from other islands and demands grow, allowing rental prices to spike.

Due to the high demand and low supply for housing in Malé, many people who own land choose to rent it out for extra income, either by renting a part of their house or giving the land for the construction of apartment buildings.

A 2008 report by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) found that 68 percent of families in Malé were living in accommodation that “qualifies as slums by UN definitions.”

Additionally, they found survey participants spent 85 percent of their income on rent and utilities in Malé and Vilingili. They also found some landlords were increasing rent “at will” and forcibly evicting tenants if they were unable to meet their ever-increasing demands.

Effects of overcrowded areas

There are many other issues with overpopulation besides money and rental control; health problems, psychological welfare and even sexual abuse have all been directly connected to living in overcrowded areas.

Dr Jorge Mario Luna, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to the Maldives, wrote: “Several social problems are also faced within the household including child abuse, psychological impact in growing up in areas of overcrowding, breakdown of many families due to the hardship faced by them stimulating a ripple effect of social disorder for the families, particularly the children caught in the situation.”

Buildings in Malé
Buildings in Malé

Dr Luna added: “It is important to note that the major drivers, or social determinants, of health in urban settings are beyond the health sector, including physical infrastructure, access to social and health services, local governance, and the distribution of income and educational opportunities.”

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MDP MP Musthafa assures “I will never leave my party”

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Thimarafushi in Thaa Atoll, Mohamed Mustafa, has spoken against one of the amendments to the Tourism Act in Parliament this week, amendments proposed by his party.

Today he offered assurances that he “would still vote with MDP on the issue.”

Mustafa said he is mainly opposed to the extension of leases for resorts, which will lease islands to resort operators for a minimum of 50 years. This was proposed  to make the Maldives a “more investor-friendly environment,” according to former Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom, who spoke to Minivan News yesterday.

Mustafa believes reducing costs for the investor means “one man is getting rich, while the poor are getting poorer.”

“We don’t need to extend a lease to 50 years,” he said, “rather, the government can implement the Taxation Bill.”

He said he does not see how the amendment is beneficial to the people of the Maldives: “Why are we giving the benefits to rich people and not the general public?”

Although he expressed his concerns over the proposed amendments, he said he wanted to “confirm to Minivan News that I will not vote against my party. It’s one of the best parties.”

“I have my own opinion,” he said, but he still believes “the MDP are [working] for the benefit of Maldivians.”

Mustafa also spoke about his “intimidation” by certain MDP members, but said it was not a recent issue and had nothing to do with the Tourism Act.

He said his comments concerning intimidation by his party were “regarding a previous case that went to criminal court” a year and a half ago over a payment issue.

Mustafa said he was acting as a mediator for a payment that needed to be made to someone, whom he claims is “a known money launderer and strong supporter of the DRP”, and this person tried to cash in the same cheque twice.

“He had no right to take the payment the second time,” he said.

Mustafa claimed the case was then taken to court and he was not informed about it. He said “some senior MDP members were behind the case, but they are not MPs.”

He said his comments were taken out of context by the media, “which is putting their own style into things they don’t know. They are poisoning the minds of the public.”

Concerning the recent rumours that he was planning on leaving the MDP and moving to the People’s Alliance (PA), he said “I will never move to the PA, that is totally false.”

“I have nothing against my party, we are on very good terms,” Mustafa noted, adding that “MDP is a democratic party. It’s the most democratic party in the Maldives, and we are working to perform our pledges.”

“We work very well, cooperate, do our best for our party,” he said, “we are very strong, we walk as one. I will never leave my party, I would rather resign [politics],” he added.

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Bill banning import of alcohol presented to parliament

A bill banning the importing of alcohol and pork into the Maldives has been presented to the parliament.

The bill was presented by Independent MP Ibrahim Muthalib, which he said amended the list of things that could not be imported to the country under 75/4 of the law on concerning contraband.

”The last time I presented a bill  banning that sale and usage of alcohol on inhabited islands they sent it off the floor claiming that it only bans particular places or areas (inhabited islands),” he said. ”This time I am presenting a bill to ban [alcohol and pork] from being brought inside the country at all.”

He said he hoped that all the MPs would make “a good decision” on the bill after thinking “with a good mind.”

DRP MP Ahmed Rasheed said that he would not support the bill.

”By removing my arms in case I hit someone, by cutting out my tongue in case I talk filth, by blinding my eyes in case I see something that ought not to be watched, by plugging my ears in case I hear something I ought not – I can’t be a Muslim that way,” he said. ”I don’t think there is anyone with so weak a faith.”

People’s Alliances party MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abu Bakuru said that he “fully supported” the bill.

”I have information that in 1972 alcohol was not imported to the country,” Jamal said. ”It is not a good way to think that its best to be surrounded by sins and not to commit. [For example] it is said to stay away from sex before marriage, and to wait patiently without doing it.”

PA leader and MP Abdulla Yameen said that although the Maldives was a hundred per-cent Muslim country importing alcohol could not be fully banned.

”Look at Jeddah (a Saudi Arabian city on the shores of the Red Sea). It is a city in an Arab Islamic country but you can get alcohol from there,” Yameen said.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Parliamentary group leader Moosa Manik claimed he would not support the bill as it was “politically motivated”.

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Government’s bill reduces tourism revenue “but improves investor confidence”

The government has proposed an amendment to the Tourism Act that reduces the rent resorts pay as well as extending the lease period to fifty years, a move which would significantly reduce the government’s income from the tourism industry in the short term.

The bill was proposed by MDP MP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who said the main aim of the bill “is to improve investor confidence and performance of the tourism sector.”

Solih said rent would be charged depending on the resort’s area and not number of beds. Resorts are now to pay US$7 for each square metre.

Resorts would also be categorised according to their size; the smallest group being from 100,000-200,000 m²; the second from 200.000-400,000 m², and the largest is above 400,000 m².

Solih said this will ease the burden on resort owners and will help resorts currently under construction around the country.

He noted that this would reduce the government’s income from the tourism sector from Rf 1900 million (US$148 million) to about Rf 1300 million (US$101 million).

Creating an investor-friendly environment

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dr Ali Sawad, said the amendments to the Tourism Act will create more macro-economic opportunities in the Maldives.

“It is geared towards achieving three objectives: the first is transforming leases to land rent. The second is phasing out the bed tax, and the third is increasing the lease from a minimum of 35 years to a minimum of 50 years.”

Resorts currently pay a flat rate of US$8 per occupied room, per night, known as the ‘bed tax’, however the resort industry has criticised this as a disincentive to increase capacity and promote expansion, and limited potential revenues in the future.

Dr Sawad said since all the revenue streams are linked, any amendments to the bill will have a “ripple effect on the economy” and would create an environment for greater investments as investment costs are decreased.

He assured that the amendments would bring in more revenue starting from next year, but admitted the government would see “a slight drop [of revenue] during the transition. It’s all part of a larger fiscal policy.”

The amendments to the bill would ultimately “not lower revenue” from the tourism industry, as they were intended to make investment in the Maldives “more attractive.”

Former Minister of Tourism Abdulla Mausoom said “we definitely have to create a positive investment environment in the country,” because in the last year and a half, “investor confidence has been down.”

He said the outcome of both the tourism bill and the taxation bill “are not certain.”

“The Maldives is very small and our natural resources are limited,” Mausoon said. “The government has a responsibility to look after our resources.”

He said he believed “it is not in the best interest of the country” when an investor is willing to pay a better price and the government had set a lower fixed price.

“We should facilitate and investor-friendly environment without eliminating the competitiveness of the market,” he said.

Mausoon suggested the government set a minimum fixed rate and have bidders propose higher bids from there. He said most of islands desired by resorts were what he termed, “micro-islands” or those less than 10 hectares in size (less than 0.1 km²).

“The government has a responsibility to safeguard our assets,” Mausoon said, noting that if investors are willing to pay more, “they should be allowed to pay more.”

‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said “we think this a very forward-thinking bill. Obviously there are little tweaks needed, but overall it’s a good bill that has come at the right time.”

Sim said “the government has worked closely with the tourism industry to develop this bill” and had consulted with the industry “at every stage.”

Bed tax and island lease vs. GST and land rent

Currently, the cost a resort pays the government is based on the number of beds it has. Dr Sawad said on average, the government was making anywhere from US$3,500-20,000 per bed every year, generating a total of US$47 million in revenue from the bed tax per year.

He said a “conservative estimate” of how much revenue the government’s proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is expected to bring in was over US$60 million a year. He noted that the tax revenue would continue to increase as the tax net widens.

Dr Sawad said the bed tax would be phased out in the next three years when the GST is in place.

He also said the leases for resorts currently brought in around US$78 million, while the land rent should collect about US$60 million a year.

“By addressing the lease rent head on, we will be able to reduce investment costs, which makes for a more attractive investment,” he said.

However Mausoom said the land rent increases the uncertainty for the tourism industry, because there is no guarantee as to how many beds will be developed on then land: “A resort owner can build as many rooms as possible.”

“This US$7 per square metre is very misleading,” he added, noting that “the government will only be getting three set rents: US$1 million [per month] for the islands in the smallest bracket. For the middle bracket it will be US$1.5 million, and US$2 million for the larger islands. It doesn’t make sense.”

He pointed out the smallest bracket—those islands smaller than 200,000 m²—“should catch at least US$1.4 million, if you multiply it by US$7 per square metre. It’s totally misleading.”

Another thing he believes is unfair is the government’s decision to wait until the GST is in place before ratifying the Tourism Act. “They can’t put a condition like that,” he said, “it’s putting an extra burden on resort owners.”

Mausoom also said he believed there were “many discrepancies” in how the MDP is trying to consolidate the different bills and acts concerning fiscal policy, and said “the government has to start singing the same song. A song that is nice to the Maldivian people, nice to the investors, and nice to the tourists.

Sim explained that the amount the government will lose in land rent (compared to the current lease and bed tax scheme) would be offset by the GST levy, “which would go hand-in-hand with this bill.”

He said adding the business profit tax, GST and land rent, the resorts will “probably pay more than they do currently alongside existing government revenues from customs duties.”

He added that the three year waiting period to phase out the bed tax “is a bit long and [we] will try to lobby for one year.”

Sim also noted that the major issue with the Maldives’ tourism industry is capacity: “The industry can only grow through an increase in capacity. The current situation is good for people who have established, successful properties, [but not for new investors].”

The new system, he said, would offer businesses “certainties” and reduce the current level of “maneuvering” occurring within the industry.

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