Category: Politics

Leaders of the Adhaalath party approached the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) to discuss an alliance against President Gayoom in 2006, Ahmed Ibrahim Didi (Sandhaanu Didi), has told Minivan News.

Didi was Adhaalath’s Political Advisor until he quit the party to rejoin the MDP last week. He says he only joined Adhaalath in July 2006 “to take it in a good political direction” and forge an alliance with the MDP. But “high ranking officials” in Adhaalath were put off by the MDP’s tactics of protest and demonstration.

According to Didi, Adhaalath’s priority is now religion, and the MDP is the only party committed to political reform.

Common Ground

When he joined Adhaalath in July 2006, Didi says its leaders were aware he intended to forge a political alliance with the MDP.

“I didn’t approach them, they actively sought me out,” Didi says. “They knew I was not religious in the sense of being able to give sermons like them… I told them very frankly, I am not from your category, why should I go with you? We will have different opinions.”

“But they said we will work together… They believed I could give political sermons in this country… They believed in me. They knew I dad political intentions… and I wanted to take [the party] in a political direction.”

And, Didi says, in July last year, the MDP were equally enthusiastic about the possibility of an alliance. “I talked to Mr Zaki [the Acting MDP President] about this as soon as I joined Adhaalath. He welcomed it. He said even before I approached him, they themselves [Adhaalath leaders] had approached him.”

Didi says he did not believe the religious character of the Adhaalath party should prevent an alliance on “political common ground.”

“I was not from a religious party and, from the beginning, Anni [the MDP Chairman] he was a political man. We were doing what we were doing. Adhaalath were doing something else from the beginning.”

But, “they have registered as a political party. They have supporters from society.” And “their ambition is the same as MDP… to overthrow Gayoom. They are not with the government. I am 100% sure. They are against the government.” So, “together we could work on this political ground.”

Arab Money

Didi wanted Adhaalath to assist the MDP’s attempts to win support in the international community, and support its demonstrations on the street.

“I suggested to them, why don’t we go to Sri Lanka and give a helping hand to Anni when he talks to the embassies.”

Didi believed Adhaalath’s religious character could be used to win financial support from the Middle East. “I said… with beards… if we go to Arabia, we can also get something. Now Gayoom is just taking money from them in our name. So why don’t we go? Why don’t we stop it?”

He attended most MDP protests during his short time in Adhaalath and asked the party leaders, “why don’t you come to the street and join the MDP. Why don’t you allow me to hoist the Adhaalath flag [at protests].”

“My Aim Had Failed”

“With my work with, in my opinion, Adhaalath could have been a better party than they are now,” Didi says. But his attempt to make Adhaalath play a more active political role was frustrated.

“Top-ranking [Adhaalath] officials are not interested” in an alliance, Didi says. “The MDP is coming on to the street. But they [the Adhaalath officials] feel this is something very bad. They don’t want this.”

Although Didi did not officially leave Adhaalath until last week, on the day he rejoined the MDP, he says he stopped working for Adhaalath at the end of 2006.

“I believe in these [Adhaalath] people and highly respect them for their religious work. I respect what they are doing… But I don’t think its enough… It’s a political party, and must work as such.” Didi explains. “I didn’t join just to go preaching Islamic sermons with them.”

Didi says he told Adhaalath leaders, “Gayoom is not listening to us. We cannot bring reform while we site in an air-conditioned room… We cannot just write. We have to pressure him somehow.” But, he says, “Adhaalath was just keeping quiet.”

By the end of 2006, the MDP and Adhaalath were publicly attacking each other. Adhaalath accused the MDP of being Christian missionaries at a public rally in September and complained that MDP Chairman Anni had publicly attacked them in a media interview.

Religious Appeal?

The two parties have since drifted towards religious and political identities. Adhaalath delivers political messages through fatwas and religious sermons, making it impossible for the government to control them, while MDP activists are regularly arrested for political activities.

Didi accepts Ahdaalath’s religious tactics can be effective. “Some MDP members say that Adhaalath is on the right track,” he admits, “in the case of Hussein Salah, religious pronouncements were very effective.”

But he says Adhaalath’s religious statements are powerful because they are critical of President Gayoom. “I feel [people] are going to Adhaalath to hear Hussain Rasheed [Adhaalath’s President] be highly critical of Gayoom. Only some of them go for the sermons.”

Didi says the MDP is right to continue its political campaign and should not imitate Ahdaalath’s religious tactics. “There is no question of religion. These are political affairs we have to deal with. We should not bring religious and political affairs together.”

And he believes Maldivians remain supportive of the MDP. “Sometimes they [Adhaalath leaders] feel they are popular enough without the MDP. But I don’t feel that… I don’t think in the coming election, if they do not change their policy, they will be winning.”

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Throughout his interview, Didi says he shares Adhaalath’s view of a Muslim society. “I am a pure Muslim. I have no disagreement with Adhaalath on Islam… they are my friends.”

He pinpoints one difference between himself and his former colleagues. “Adhaalath want a good Islamic society. I want an Islamic society, but without Gayoom.”

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He speaks of himself in the third person, breaks into a smile and jumps to attention for no apparent reason and is an ever present at opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meetings.

He says he is 88 years old. Before he said he was 84. Reports had him down as 73, and his identity card records him as 65. Whatever age he is, he is a local celebrity amongst those who know him.

MDP officials describe him as a pest, a character, a hero, an inspiration. They made a special exception for him to attend last year’s national congress.

But Ismail Mohamed (Ismailbe’) was arrested on April 29 for distributing leaflets and has just completed a week under house arrest. He was detained for distributing copies of a statement of the family of the late Hussein Salah, which police said “are banned and will create disharmony.” He was released last Saturday.

Ismailbe’ has lived under seven different heads of state in the Maldives, he says. But none, according to him, have been as bad as President Gayoom.

Work To Eat

Because he is hard of hearing, our interpreter shouts questions in Ismailbe’s ear. He bellows back answers, banging on the desk and gesturing as he communicates his disdain for the present government.

“I told them I was doing this work so I can eat but they didn’t believe me,” Ismailbe’ says of his arrest. “There is no single office in the government where I haven’t submitted to find a job, even at my age. I have been refused all jobs in the government and I have no way of earning money.”

“Now I am paid a little for distributing MDP leaflets. I rely on the money I earn from the MDP for distributing leaflets and money from well wishers to live and eat.”

No Respect

“I had been distributing the press release on Hussein Salah’s family for three days, when the police came to get me. I was standing near the STO building, and I had just three more to distribute when they came,” Ismailbe says.

Ismailbe’ was taken to Atoluvehi detention centre on Malé for interrogation by the police. “I told them I had never been jailed or taken into custody. But the police showed me no respect. They didn’t care about my age.”

“They kept asking me why I was handing out leaflets, but they didn’t believe me when I said I was doing it for basic income. So I refused to answer their questions.”

“I was not given any food from 10am till 6pm. I was shivering because the air conditioning was on so high. I asked several times for food and to turn the air conditioning down but they ignored me.”

In the evening, Ismailbe’ was taken from Atoluvehi to his house, where he was to remain under house arrest. “The police threatened my wife telling them if Ismailbe’ gets out of the house, we will take you in as well,” he says.

He was summoned back to Atoluvehi once more days after his arrest. “They took me in to take my fingerprints,” he says. “They have a procedure where I had to place each finger to leave a print. They told me to press down harder and I did as hard as I could. But they hit my hands and forced them lower. They had no respect.”

Weakness

“It is a sign of weakness that Gayoom has to arrest an eighty-eight year old,” Ismailbe’ says. “He will not last long.”

Ismailbe’ recalls, “When Maumoon first came to power everybody thought he was very good. Everybody had high hopes. Now everybody is mad because of that. Because he promised he would clean things up.”

Ismailbe’ blames Gayoom’s failure on greed. “The moment Gayoom started to change was the moment the Maldives started to get a lot of money. The government takes all this money and gives very little to the people. He [President Gayoom] gives huge sums to his cronies. The government is just hoarding funds and beating people up.”

And Ismailbe’ is scathing of the President’s attitude to Islam, “Gayoom doesn’t love religion. He always talks about it, but he does nothing according to it,” he says.

“Of the seven heads of state I have lived under, I have never seen anyone as torturous as Gayoom,” Ismailbe goes on, and he ends our discussion, warning, “Torturers do not change.”

Unity

Ismailbe’ rejects the notion that party politics and agitation over events like Hussein Salah’s death are dividing the country.

“I am being arrested because the party system is not being implemented, not because of the party system,” he says. “When party system comes to power, everyone should be happy”

Ismailbe’ is adamant that, “Everyone I meet on the street, even the women, support the work I do to create the party system.”

Ismailbe’ recalls a time before politics and modern life came to Malé. “There were grapefruit trees, mango trees and unpaved roads. A grapefruit cost 5 laari, and a tuna fish cost 10 laari… people were very happy despite hardship and took every opportunity to celebrate.”

But he says the country must look forward to democracy.

My Life For Freedom

“The police will probably arrest me again. But I won’t stop doing my work for the MDP. Its not just about me, I do it for the people. I would give my life for this cause,” Ismailbe’ wails.

Asked about what an MDP government can deliver to the people, he replies, “The MDP will put a smile on people’s faces.” When pushed, he says, “they will sort out the drugs problem and stop students being victimised.”

But he is most fluent when talking about the party’s Chairman and figurehead, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni). “Anni is Chairman and President of the party,” he says, despite the looming MDP Presidential election in which Anni is not standing. “He is like a son to me, and I would do anything for that man.”

And he is confident the MDP will not be allowed to repeat the mistakes of the current regime, “If they do not perform, the people will throw them out and have another election.”

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Umar Naseer, leader of the Islamic Democratic Party, unveiled his presidential campaign and manifesto last Friday, on his 40th birthday.

Having just submitted 5000 more signatures to the Elections Commissioner, he has big ambitions for himself and his party. His twelve point manifesto prescribes democracy with conservative and Islamic values for the Maldives, the construction of four new regional cities, and tough measures on drugs.

A former police officer, with an imposing physique and a sharp stare, he acknowledges that he is a “self-styled hard man.”

When asked if his manifesto seems “slightly dictatorial,” he says: “It is…not, it is, I would say these are measures that you need in time.”

Torture

Dealing with the allegations of torture that have marred his political career, he says: “For everybody there will be an allegation. In my case I have been a police officer. I think I have been a police officer who is tough. I am not a soft cop, I am a tough cop and my policies are that I will stop criminals by using all the authorities given.

“And the allegation on me is that I have broken the backbone of some Mahir or some fellow. My response to that has always been that I have always maintained that Mr Mahir is a drug dealer. He has been sentenced to prison for over 18 years on those same charges. By his own confession he is a drug dealer, a drug addict. And to stop such people cops have to react and under my command my contingents have reacted to arrest him and on my order he has been arrested.

“But I have never ordered anyone to break his backbone and myself personally I have never done anything to anybody…I did not do it all and I am ready to take oath. Placing my hand on the Koran I am ready to take oath. I am doubtful that Mahir will be able to take the same oath on the same Koran,” he says.

But he says the Maldivian Democratic Party’s claim that torture has been rife in the Maldives Police Service during his time in the organisation is “baseless” and “pure propaganda.” When asked about the Evan Naseem killing, he retorts: “Evan Naseem, of course, it is not only in Maldives that you have these kind of isolated matters in police prisons.

“That allegation is going to continue always because MDP has a strategy of overthrowing the government by taking away the police authority. This is a very common thing in communism. When communism came to the world, the communist infiltrators tried to discredit the police and the army so that the army and the police cannot react and then they will attack the government officials and then take over the government.

“So the same tactic today is being used by MDP to make sure the authority of the police is reduced so they don’t react when they go and try and topple the government. I am a trained intelligence officer, and I know how they do it, and how the communists did it in other countries and what are the tactics of MDP today,” he claims.

Drugs

“I will still be tough on drug dealers like Mahir. I have no regret in arresting him and further in future if I have the position of the Presidency, I will not only arrest Mahir, I will arrest all drug dealers and make sure I clean up the streets,” says Mr Naseer.

One of the main points of the IDP manifesto is its hard stance on drugs. “Today we need some tough policies on certain areas, especially on drugs, because the whole Maldives would cease to exist in a hundred years if we don’t stop this,” he says.

“I would take the example of Botswana. 40% of the citizens are HIV positive so 20 years down the line if 40% of Maldivians are drug addicts, what would be the result? I am sure another country would come and take over Maldives,” he claims.

Mr Naseer prescribes some harsh penalties for drugs – death sentence for importers, ten years imprisonment for dealers and confiscation of all their property. The money made from the confiscation will then go into an anti-drug fund. Rehabilitation will be compulsory, and nobody will be above the law, in Mr Naseer’s vision of the Maldives.

Religion

He believes that his conservative and tough policies will be attractive to the average Maldivian. “We believe that if we are able to present the manifesto to the grass roots, it will have a very good reception,” he says.

Mr Naseer says that as a 100% Muslim country, the Maldives is in a rare situation shared only by Saudi Arabia, and so it requires a special version of democracy. Secularism, pluralism, homosexuality, abortion and alcohol are all out, and national unity will remain “a very important priority.”

“Secularism is not something for Maldives. Secularism is a pill. It is a medicine, very good for countries with multi-race, multi-religion, multi-culture. But if this pill is given to a wrong patient, like Maldives, where we have a single religion for the past 400 years, then this pill can cause irritation in your stomach. So this secularism is not good for Maldives.

“We want to retain one religion, one race, and one language policy. That means was all speak in Dhivehi, we all belong to our race, and then we have one religion.

“I am sure all the political parties would agree with me on these points but the question I show committed are people when you have to really defend that,” he says.

But in the religious society of the Maldives, Mr Naseer believes there should be less political influence on the scholars, and intends to make religious advisory bodies independent. He also believes the scholars should be free from the influence of fundamentalism.

“I think religious radicalism is going to be a serious problem to the Maldives after narcotics – religious fundamentalism I call it. I am sure it is going to be a very serious problem for the Maldives and this is why you need a very tough person for the next president. The next president cannot be a soft guy.

“What we have to do is we have to draw a line that they cannot pass. And when they pass the line we have to punish them…the problem with the current government is that they don’t punish people when they cross the lines.

“The law is not being followed today. The law is being applied on certain people and certain people are let go. Recently there was a murder in Himandhoo, based on religious fundamentalism. The case still has not been looked into correctly. Nobody has been charged in court today. That means there isn’t a real focus by the government on this issue at the moment. The focus of the government today is on the opposition and surviving itself, but these kind of things are coming up, you know,” he says.

Cities

It is clear Mr Naseer is thinking long-term, and his policy of building four new cities in each corner of the country reflects that. “I am sure that within ten years each city will have at least 10 000 population,” he says.

“I am pretty confident I can raise enough money to do this. I need $200m to build four cities and if I take this $200m from any foreign organization for a period of thirty or forty years I am sure it will be worth it because for the 100 islands that I propose to reduce from the map I do not have to spend on those 100 islands. Now I only have 4 cities.

“All the previous governments have attempted to decentralize, but they have failed because their policies were not adequate to do that, so now we are laying a policy which is strong and tough,” he says.

Each family rehoused will get a new property worth Rf. 400 000. To reduce overcrowding in Malé, Naseer is also proposing the construction of 4 000 new flats in 5 years which will be built on Hulhumale and Vilingili and Malé as well as the new capitals.

To pay for it, he proposes a fuller tax system, which will include income tax, tax on profit and zakat. He also plans to cut back on presidential expenses, the military and the bloated civil service.

In order to help make Maldives’ economy more robust, the IDP plans to introduce industrial scale aquaculture, using Japanese expertise, and plans to expand the tourism industry in “a carefully organised manner.”

Mr Naseer now has a year to generate the “grass-roots” support he talks of for his party, and put the allegations of torture behind him, if he is to become president, and be able to implement his vision.

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The Maldives must hold free and fair multi-party elections by 2008 or risk sliding into political ‘chaos’.

That was the stark warning from the Maldivian High Commissioner to London, Hassan Sobir, this week, during an exclusive interview with Minivan News.

The reclusive High Commissioner came out of his political shell to call on the constituent assembly, the Special Majlis, to speed up the process of reform to pave the way for the first competitive election in the Maldives’ history.

“People often ask me what would happen if the Special Majlis failed to pass the Constitutional Reform laws. I tell them it has no choice. The Majlis must enact the constitution reform before the deadline for presidential elections in 2008. It would be a great injustice to the people not to do so,” Sobir said.

“The slow pace of the Majlis is very disappointing. There is a lot of foot-dragging with points of order and delays, with people blaming each other. They have to see that it is in everybody’s interest, including the opposition’s, to get the constitutional reform through. There is no alternative.”

“The country would descend into chaos if it did not go through. That’s what I think and I don’t care who knows that this is my view.”

Removed from the day to day squabbles of Male’ politics, Sobir is something of an outsider. Viewing the reform process from afar, he is more reflective and able focus on the bigger, long term picture for the country.

Much of his day to day job involves meeting fellow diplomats and government officials here in London, at the European Union in Brussels and at the United Nations in Geneva.

In those meetings, Sobir represents President Gayoom’s government and defends its track record on human rights and democratic reform.

He gave his interview to Minivan News after what he said had been a ‘difficult’ year.

In 2006 the government missed a number of its own roadmap commitments, such as reforming the criminal justice system. For many, the varnish has started to come off Gayoom’s reform process.

“There are big challenges in my job of representing Maldives abroad. One, we are a small country, two it is a poor country, three it is an Islamic country and four, it has a government that has been in power for a very long time. It is a difficult time for me working in London,” he said.

Sobir is proud of his track record, however, and feels he has achieved much during his time in Europe.

“I came to London when Gayoom began his new term of office and had announced a programme of sweeping reforms. But there was turbulence at home. The European Union passed resolutions attacking the Maldives government, and I saw that these were in some ways biased and the government’s side was not well understood.”

“My main aim was to provide the other side of the story, to give European politicians a fuller picture. A lot of mistakes have been made [in the Maldives], I must admit, but a lot of good has been achieved also. We must accept that mistakes have been made and be willing to change.”

“It is significant that despite the negative attention that has been given to Maldives, no country has brought in a travel ban, as advocated by some European politicians. It is true that there is political trouble in Maldives, but we have not turned our back on reform.”

“It is also significant that partly as a result of my presence in the diplomatic community in Europe, we were able to mobilize huge resources for reconstruction aid after the Tsunami. The British Red Cross, for example, has done a lot to help and the European Investment Bank has provided at least 50 million euros. These successes are not down to me alone, but to the highly effective team I have at the Maldives diplomatic mission in London.”

To his critics, however, Sobir’s defense of the Gayoom government makes him nothing short of a ‘spin-doctor’, who is paid to excuse the ongoing human rights abuses in the Maldives with paper-thin promises that political reform is just around the corner.

How does Sobir square representing an autocratic regime while at the same time espousing the virtues of democracy?

“A transition period is always going to be difficult. Social and political change is more difficult to achieve than economic change. A resort can be built and operating within a year, but it takes many years to train doctors or lawyers. Constitutional reform is no cake-walk.”

The High Commissioner feels that despite the ‘foot dragging’ of some members of the Special Majlis, the government has made considerable progress on democratic reform and will turn the Maldives into a fully-fledged democracy.

“Politics is about giving and taking, sitting at a table and talking. It is not about violence and street protests. Even some sections of the MDP [opposition Maldivian Democratic Party] recognise this. It was very significant, for example, that the MDP members of parliament did not support the plan for a political demonstration in November last year. They are moderate, but are occupied with other things and should concentrate on pushing through reform in a democratic way.”

“It is the responsibility of everyone to see that change takes place with stability. We cannot become a mini-Iraq.”

In light of the attention the Maldivian reform process is beginning to receive in Britain and throughout Europe, Sobir feels that political reform is also necessary for the further development of the tourism industry.

“We have a successful tourism industry. It is healthy tourism, clean tourism. People who visit Maldives have traveled a lot and are a very informed group of travelers. Many of them are repeaters – they come year after year because they like it so much. Yes, they come for sun and sandy beaches, and luxurious resorts, but they see also that political development is occurring.”

“Maldives specialises in a relatively exclusive category, with medium to high-end resort facilities. We do not have mass tourism. The people who visit Maldives want to be associated with a democratic country, which respects human rights. The workers in the Maldives tourism industry want a functional democracy too. It is important to promote ethical tourism. Tourism development and the political reform process go hand-in-hand.”

For Sobir, there are also other threats to the tourism industry other than political turmoil. He is concerned about the high levels of heroin addiction among Maldivian youths. He is also worried about the rise of a new, pugnacious form of Islam, which threatens the traditional Maldivian way of life.

“There are signs that Islamic fundamentalism is creeping in. It is difficult to quantify but there are people who have started introducing extreme views. This is a matter for concern, and people should not ignore it.”

“We want Maldives to be a moderate Muslim country, where we have women working in industry and they have a strong role in politics and economics. This must continue.”

“It’s fine for girls to wear the veil if they wish, as has been noticed by Maldivians and visitors alike. This is not a problem. But there are people with extreme Islamic views and they should not impose their values on others.”

Sobir works hard in London to promote the Maldives as a moderate, progressive Muslim country.

“I often take part in three-faith events, where Muslims, Christians and Jews meet to discuss things of shared interest. It is interesting that recently a Jewish leader in London spoke positively of Islam as a noble religion. When it is possible to be so tolerant, it baffles me why there is so much misunderstanding about Islam.”

“An Australian couple had an opportunity to meet the President on a recent visit to Maldives. They were asked what was most striking. They said they had heard so much that was bad about Islam, but now they could see that Islam can be good for a country and it is a noble religion.”

“Once we achieve democracy, Maldives can be a good role model for the rest of the world, especially the Islamic states. We could be a small island Muslim state with a thriving tourism industry and respect for human rights.”

As for his own plans, Sobir insists he does not have political ambitions.

“I have no intention of standing for the Presidency, if that is what you mean.”

“There are a lot of qualified younger people in Maldives who should come forward and throw their hats into the ring. My boss, the Foreign Minister, Dr Shaheed, for example, is a very able young man who is very good in negotiations.”

“One day I will return to Maldives but I do not wish to do anything big. Certainly, I would not want to be a politician.”

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Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital stood accused of “failing to exercise due care” in diagnosis and of “failing to give appropriate treatment” to nine-month old Ali Zakwan, who died of kidney failure last July, in a hearing at the Civil Court in Male’ on Sunday.

“After the child was admitted to the hospital the doctors failed to exercise due care in diagnosing Zakwan’s condition and to give the patient appropriate treatment,” said Husnu Suoodh, lawyer for the prosecution. The child’s mother, Wazna Ibrahim Majdhee, filed a medical negligence case against IGMH, claiming that her son’s kidney failure resulted from the negligence of doctors and staff at the hospital.

“On 13 July 2006 when Ali Zakwan was taken to hospital, Dr. Shafqa failed to diagnose Zakwan’s condition and therefore the child went into severe dehydration just two hours thereafter,” Suoodh said in a statement given to Minivan News.

“When Ali Zakwan was taken to the hospital at 5 pm on the same day,” Suoodh continued, “the doctors and staff at the hospital casualty room failed to attend the patient and to give any treatment until after 6:05 pm,” Suoodh added.

Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) argued it was not responsible for the death of nine-month old, Ali Zakwan, who died last July while in the hospital’s care.

The prosecution has blamed Dr. Fathimath Shafuga, Dr. John George and Dr. Amir, who the boy’s mother said, “failed to exercise proper care”, while treating her child. The prosecution lawyer, Suoodh said one of the most important points he wanted to raise was the fact that on the morning of 13 July 2006, Dr Fathimath Shafuga did not pay proper attention to Zakwan.

Suoodh said this was clearly negligent as Dr Mahaputra from Imperial Medical Centre gave specific instructions to IGMH doctors on how to attend to the child. The lawyer for the prosecution added because the doctors at IGMH didn’t follow these instructions, delays in the patient receiving treatment occurred.

During Sunday’s hearing, Suoodh provided a list of witnesses he would be calling to the court. He also requested that IGMH produce the records of inquiry conducted by a committee appointed by the hospital management.

The trial continues.

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There is confusion over who is in control over the referendum after a number of contradictory messages from the government and Special Majlis. The doubt focuses on whether Elections Commissioner, KD Ahmed Manik, has issued a regulation to the parliamentary committee organising the referendum over the future system of government.

An 11 member parliamentary committee in the Special Majlis has issued a report with its recommendations for the referendum. The committee, which is made up of 10 MPs from the government Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and one independent MP after the opposition MDP boycotted the group, proposes to hand control of the referendum to the Elections Commissioner whose work falls under the remit of the President’s Office.

Article 3 of the Committee’s report, which was recently distributed to MPs, says: “The referendum shall be carried out by the Elections Commissioner in accordance with Article 132 of the Maldivian Constitution. The Commissioner shall pursue this task in accordance to the regulation on public referendums by secret ballot 2006, issued by the Commissioner of Elections’ office on …2006”

The date when the Elections Commissioner’s office issued the regulation is not included in the document. Many MPs believe that is because KD Ahmed Manik has not yet issued the regulation, despite telling pro-government newspaper Haveeru this month that he had drawn it up and had sent it to the 11-man committee.

So far, only the committee claims to have seen the document, and they say it is “incomplete”. Nobody outside the committee and the Elections Commission seems to know what the ‘regulation on public referendums by secret ballot 2006’ says, or what it recommends for the referendum.

The Special Majlis rebelled against the wishes of the President on June 18 last year, when it voted to carry out a referendum instead of carrying out the reforms without public consultation. As a result, five committees were set up to arrange the vote on July 3.

Arrangements made by parliament originally planned the referendum for September 16 last year, but parliamentary wrangling caused considerable delay and it is still not clear when it will finally take place.

The five original committees did not last long, and were soon replaced by the DRP-dominated committee which now sits. On August 13 last year, the speaker of the Special Majlis announced that there were too many disputes within the five committees. He then sent the issue of how to conduct the referendum back to the floor of the Special Majlis.

In the debate which followed, the President’s appointee in parliament, Mohamed Saleem, proposed that instead of a committee system, it would be wise to entrust responsibility for organising the poll to Elections Commissioner, KD Ahmed Manik, whose department forms part of the President’s Office.

This effectively handed control over the referendum to President Gayoom under article 42 (f) of the Constitution, which says: “the President shall have the power to execute…(f) Holding public referendums on major issues concerning which the President requires to obtain public opinion”

Gayoom now has the power to decide the question, date and format of the vote.

Mohamed Ibrahim Didi of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) argued that since the Special Majlis had initiated the referendum, it could not be taken over by the President, but his argument went unheeded.

Soon after, the government’s Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP – Maldivian People’s Party) was arguing the five original committees were illegal, despite many of the government MPs having been part of them. On 24 August, a vote of no confidence for the 5 committees, called for by the DRP, failed. 35 voted in favour of the committees, 18 against, with 15 abstaining.

But by 10 October in the 114th sitting of the Majlis, a motion was passed setting up a new committee which would cooperate with the Elections Commissioner in order to conduct the referendum, taking precedence over the five defunct original committees.

The MDP, angry that the referendum committees had been hijacked, boycotted the new committee and the opposition is not represented within the group. Despite the MDP’s boycott, the committee pushed ahead with its work with 10 DRP members and 1 independent.

The MDP now says it is willing to vote with the committee’s proposals for the referendum to speed the process up, but the question remains, what does the ‘regulation on public referendums by secret ballot 2006’ say?

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The British Red Cross has permanently withdrawn from a major tsunami reconstruction project on Kolhufushi Island (Meemu Atoll) due to lack of agreement over rebuilding between the government and the people.

The decision was taken on January 16, and a statement released to Minivan five days later said it had “not been taken lightly.” Funds totalling $3.7m will now be reallocated to other Red Cross projects and the statement says options for where the money is reallocated are currently under discussion with the government.

The British Red Cross cited, “persistent and unresolved constraints as well as our donor deadline of having to spend tsunami funds by the end of 2007” as the primary reasons for their decision to abandon the Kolhufushi project. The aid organisation says experience shows it takes one year to build 50 houses, and with 55 planned for Kolhufushi, it had become clear they could not complete their work by the end of 2007.

“While the government has made serious efforts to address various constraints it has become impossible to reach agreement to date, particularly between the communities living on Kolhufushi and the Government on both the number of houses to be rebuild and importantly the allocation of land – where to build houses.”

The Red Cross has agreed to leave all building materials already on the island, thought to be worth around $200 000, and a generator. The organisation has said it will now provide technical support to the government, which will take over the tsunami recovery effort.

The government’s plans for rebuilding the island involve combining two settlements, one in the north and one in the south, into one large village in the middle of the island on land that was previously used for cultivation.

But having filled in the marshy ground and cut down many trees, the governments plans were frustrated by the objections of a handful of families in each settlement whose houses had not been destroyed by the tsunami. They said they wanted to stay where they are.

But the government insists that cannot happen. They say all residents must move to the new site and that the houses of the objectors are in the way. The ensuing postponement of building work on the island has frustrated many residents, who are currently stuck in tiny temporary shelters with very poor facilities such as basic sanitation.

The stalemate has led to some conflict on the island and a number of protests. Earlier this month the Island Office was blockaded with tree branches as residents protested about the government’s inability to come up with a viable compromise.

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The Maldives tourist industry has participated in several travel trade fairs in a drive to promote its resorts in European countries.

Over the past two weeks the Maldives Tourism Promotion Board organised stands at shows in the Austrian capital Vienna, the Dutch city of Utrecht and the city of Oslo in Norway.

The Reiseliv travel trade fair in Oslo is an important trade event in the Norway, targeting the travel trade and consumers in Scandinavia who want to make well informed decisions about their next long haul holiday trip.

Event organizers estimated that over 40,000 consumers and travel trade visited the fair.

Scandinavians are relatively wealthy and spend a lot of money on holidays to up-market destinations in the sun, to counteract the bleak cold winters they experience in northern Europe.

This is a difficult market to crack, however, because of the lack of direct air routes to the Maldives, and strong competition from more accessible destinations in the Mediterranean.

In conjunction with the Oslo event, Maldives Tourism Promotion Board held a news conference for media and travel trade to provide more information on the Maldives and in specific areas such as environmental initiatives and their impact on the Maldives economy and tourism trade.

In 2006 Maldives also welcomed 8,000 tourists from Netherlands. This is an increase of over 25 per cent compared to the year 2005, so a presence at the Vakantiebeurs travel fair in Utrecht was important for developing this growing source market.

Vakantiebeurs is one of the most important travel trade events in the Netherlands targeting tour operators and the general public. It is a popular annual event which last year attracted over 140,000 visitors. This year 19 representatives from ten private companies represented the Maldives tourism in Utrecht.

Austria is also considered to be a rapidly growing market for Maldives tourism, with a large number of citizens with high disposable income and easy accessibility to the Maldives. In 2006 Maldives attracted over 14,000 tourists from Austria, an increase of over 50 per cent compared to the previous year.

A significant number of people visited the Maldives stand at the Ferien Messe Fair in Vienna to gather more information on holiday opportunities in Maldives resorts.

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