President Mohamed Nasheed has congratulated the new Prime Minister of the UK, David Cameron, on becoming the country’s 54th Prime Minister and its youngest in 200 years.
Nasheed said he was confident Cameron’s leadership would lead to a “golden era” of political and economic development in the UK.
Nasheed also encouraged the UK to play “a more prominent role in the global climate change.”
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(0)Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed has met his counterpart in Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.
The pair discussed regional and international issues, and how the relationship between the two countries could be strengthened.
Areas of further cooperation included trade, agriculture, energy, environment, culture and tourism, Dr Shaheed reported.
Dr Shaheed was also attended a lunch hosted by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan, and also met Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Commerce.
(0)Dislikes(0)Opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ali Waheed has filed a motion without notice at the parliamentary national security committee to investigate the government’s decision to allegedly “resettle” inmates from the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba that houses terror suspects.
Speaking to press after filing the motion, Ali Waheed said that based on his information, the released prisoners would not necessarily be held in custody, but could be resettled in the Maldives.
“They are to be released among Maldivians and kept under watch in whatever way,” he said. “So while we don’t even have a proper jail and the society is drowning in gang violence and crime, the Maldivian government has reached the point where they are forming agreements with another country and creating a legal framework to bring in people from the jail that has the world’s dangerous terrorists and citizens aren’t aware of what’s happening. The People’s Majlis elected by the Maldivian people aren’t aware of it.”
He added that the government’s actions was “a bit too much”.
“Even if the Majlis is on recess, I ask that the committee look into this and take action against those culpable in this matter,” he said.
The DRP vice-president, who is also the deputy chairman of the national security committee, said the case should be investigated as a matter of urgent concern.
He called on the national security forces, Maldives Police Service and the Human Rights Commission to “stop this from happening.”
“And the Maldivian people should come out and stop this,” he said, adding that the government’s failure to seek the parliament’s opinion showed that personal interest was involved.
Moreover, it was regrettable that the government was planning to bring in “convicts” at a time when the social fabric “has been destroyed”.
“We can’t even properly control the convicts in this country,” he said.
Ali Waheed told Minivan News today that the DRP “fully supported” the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison, but bringing inmates to the Maldives poses dangers to the country.
Nobel Peace Prize
In December last year, President Mohamed Nasheed said the Maldives will receive prisoners released from the jail.
“If a Muslim does not have a place to live in freedom, we will help in whatever way we can. We don’t want anyone to suffer any harm. We know that the Maldives, in helping just three people from Guantanamo Bay, does not mean that either the Maldives or the world would be free of inhumane treatment,” he said. “However this jail, Guantanamo jail, is very symbolic.”
US President Barack Obama pledged to close down the jail in the first year of his presidency. However, the American government now foresees that the prison will be closed at the end of the year.
In his radio address in December, President Nasheed said investigations have cleared most of the detainees of any involvement in terrorist activities, while the others will be taken to trial.
He said most of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay were innocent people caught up in the war in Afghanistan, and that offering assistance to other nations in whatever capacity was “a national duty.”
DRP MP Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News today that Saudi Arabia, Philippines and many other countries have refused to take in any Gitmo prisoners.
President Nasheed was trying to “win the Nobel peace prize” and secure American financial assistance, Nihan suggested.
He further warned that the move could leave the country open to attack by terrorist groups.
Nihan said Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed was the one who came up with the plan.
Shaheed said today that it was important to remember that not everyone incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay prison was a terrorist or a criminal.
“There was once a Maldivian taken there,” he explained. “He is living here and nobody has attacked us.”
Shaheed claimed that DRP’s motion was driven by personal animosity towards him.
Last year, the DRP failed to pass a vote of no-confidence against Shaheed for his part in deciding to establish diplomatic ties with Israel.
On whether he advised President Nasheed on accepting the detainees, Shaheed said he did not have to answer that question.
The president said investigations have cleared most of the detainees of any involvement in terrorist activities, while the others will be taken to trial.
He said most of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay were innocent people caught up in the war in Afghanistan, and that offering assistance to other nations in whatever capacity was “a national duty.”
(0)Dislikes(0)UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron has announced a historic coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, following the resignation of Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The deal between the two parties, which are ideologically opposed on issues such as engagement with Europe, marks the country’s first coalition government since Winston Churchill’s wartime coalition 70 years ago.
Cameron has already moved into the Prime Minister’s residence at Number 10 Downing Street, 90 minutes after Brown’s departure. He becomes Britain’s 53rd Prime Minister, and its youngest in 200 years, while leader of the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg will serve as the Deputy Prime Minister.
Cameron promised he and Clegg would put their political differences aside – of which there are a great many – and seek to rebuild public trust in politics. The catchphrase of the new government would be: “Those who can, should, those who cannot, we will always help”, Cameron said.
Clegg received backing for the deal from his party last night, and committed to a five year coalition government with five of the 23 members of cabinet coming from his party.
The agreement also forced the Conservatives to make concessions on many of their policies. Key among these was a move towards raising tax thresholds for the wealthy, and a referendum on political reform – namely an alternative voting system that would force elections on the House of Lords.
Conservative plans for welfare reform, immigration caps and independent state schools will remain, while disagreements still exist over nuclear power plants and the Trident nuclear deterrent.
The deal marks a bitter day for Labour. Despite losing seats five seats in the election, the Liberal Democrats have a five year opportunity to take control of left-wing politics in the UK, leaving Labour completely offside in the next election.
Brown’s resignation was Labour’s last card to play, hoping that their own negotiations for a Lib-Lab coalition would taste sweeter with Brown out of the way.
But the jubilation among both the parties now in government masks widespread dissatisfaction in the ranks of both. United only in their dislike of Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are fundamentally different creatures and it will be a test of British politics whether one’s small-government approach will tolerate the welfare innovation of the other.
The change in government is a net gain for the Maldives. The Conservative party played a key role in training the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) from street campaigners into a political party, and pressured the British government to condemn alleged human rights abuses occurring in the country.
“Their human rights group took up our case and put pressure on the British government. At their conference they put me in touch with centre-right parties from Serbia to Sri Lanka and gave me a platform from which to tell the world about what was happening in the Maldives,” President Mohamed Nasheed said, in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper in January 2009.
It led a visit by a Conservative delegation including vice-president Richard Spring and recently-crowned Redditch MP Karen Lumley to give the MDP advice on campaigning and “strategic alliance building”.
“They deserve our support and they will certainly get it. We want to keep a spotlight on events unfolding in the Maldives,” Spring said, at the time.
After the election, Lumley wrote in the Birmingham Advertiser that she “was humbled by people who just wanted a better future for themselves and their families. I am so proud that I was able to a very small part of that change.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives is suffering from three years of soaring crime rates,Minister of Home Affairs Mohamed Shihab said at the inauguration ceremony of the Asia-Pacific meeting Interpol held on in Bandos Island Resort.
Crimes such as human trafficking, money laundering and drug trafficking were being committed with increasing technological sophistication, Shihab said, requesting assistance form Interpol when dealing with severe crimes.
Also speaking at the event, Chief Inspector of Police Mohamed Hameed said the Maldives needed to pay more attention to international crimes committed in the country and extend Interpol assistance to other law enforcement agencies in the country.
(0)Dislikes(0)A boat was split in half when a strong wave hit it yesterday, report Manadhoolive.
The newspaper reported that there were 16 passengers aboard when the incident happened, who were rescued by two other boats travelling in the area.
Manadhoolive reported that the boat was 90 feet long
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(0)Dislikes(0)A Bangladeshi man was lost overboard after he fell into the sea around 10:40am this morning, police have said.
Marine police and islanders of Meemu Atoll Muli where the incident occurred are searching for the lost man. The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has also been informed about the case, reported police.
(0)Dislikes(0)A new paediatrician will begin working at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) next month, the hospital has announced.
The hospital recently stopped providing outpatient services to children because of a shortage of paediatricians.
Zubair Mohamed, Managing Director of Male’ Health Services Corporation – formerly the Chief Executive Officer of IGMH – said that there were only four pediatricians remaining after much of the department had left because of poor salaries and conditions.
(0)Dislikes(0)The new regulations under the Religious Unity Act of 1994 drafted by the Islamic Ministry contain “ambiguities” and provisions that could be in conflict with the government’s stated policies, said the President’s Press Secretary, Mohamed Zuhair.
The President of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives, religious scholars, people from the entertainment industry and NGOs have expressed concern with the regulations, he said.
“The attorney general only looked at legal aspects before he approved it,” he said. “He did not have to consider the implications for policy or conflicts with stated government policy, mainly on freedom of expression.”
He added that Attorney General Husnu Suood had “reservations” about some provisions and favoured a cabinet meeting before publication of the regulations in the government’s gazette.
Zuhair said the “points of contention” included provisions that deal with Islamic codes of conduct and ambiguities in the terminology of some provisions.
“Codes of behaviour are not codified in Islam,” he said. “[People] have suggested that the phrase should be changed to tenets of Islam.”
There were also fears that the advisory board to be constituted under the regulations could become “the moral police” and exercise excessive powers.
Some religious scholars have also “personally called and asked for a wider discussion.”
“The president has three main concerns,” he said. “First, social implications of the regulations, second policy implications and whether there could be legal obstacles [to enforcement].”
Moreover, some of the provisions could be “extraneous” as laws already existed to tackle the problems the regulations target.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed urged the president’s office to resolve possible policy conflicts and publish the regulations.
As well as “all respected religious scholars in the country”, other government authorities were consulted in the formulation of the regulations Shaheem said.
Shaheem stressed that the attorney general’s office, the legal department at the president’s office and the Maldives Police Service have all cleared the regulations.
The state minister downplayed fears that the regulations would give coercive powers to the ministry.
“It is not our intention to put people in jail,” he said. “[For example], if someone writes an article mocking Islam, we will only advise that person and offer counselling.”
He added that the ministry did not want to discourage criticism and the regulations were necessary “for democracy and to build a stable society”.
The regulations were important to deal with social problems caused by disputes over religious issues, he explained.
Shaheem noted that he has received complaints this week from two islands with independent or breakaway prayer congregations.
“The islanders told me they [the breakaway group] threatened to attack foreigners if the islanders tried to stop them,” he said.
Meanwhile, the HRCM has denied Zuhair’s claim to local daily Haveeru yesterday that the commission raised concern with the regulations.
The commission’s statement denies that “any complaints” were made by any HRCM official.
It adds that the report in the media was “regrettable” and that the commission was not officially consulted in the process of drafting the regulations.
The Haveeru story quoted Zuhair as saying that the Tourism Ministry and Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation have also expressed concern.
However, the press secretary said today that Ahmed Saleem, president of the HRCM, had called “a senior official” of the government and voiced his concerns.
Saleem told the official he has not had time to review the regulations as he had to fly abroad soon, he said.
The HRCM statement could therefore mean “one of two things,” Zuhair said.
“They have either reviewed it and decided to endorse it or this is miscommunication inside the commission,” he said.
Ahmed Saleem could not be reached for comment at time of press.
Tourism Minister Dr Ahmed Sawad said he has not read the regulations yet.
“We’d like to go through it and see if there are any issues,” he said. “We will attend to it in the next two days.”
Ibrahim Khaleel, managing director of MNBC, said he has not officially complained or expressed concern.
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