Day: June 27, 2010

Supreme Court judges’ appointments not temporary: Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed

The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court is permanent, claims Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed in a letter to President Nasheed.

The receipt of the letter has been confirmed by the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair who said the letter included legal points on expelling judges from the courts. “Such letters by the judiciary will be received by the President with special attention,” he said.

The legal points raised by the chief judge are being studied by the President’s Office’s legal team, said Zuhair, and when the legal team presents its conclusions, the President will make a decision on the letter.

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Dictatorial Majlis hindering progress in Maldives: Mariya Didi

Previously it was a dictatorial executive but now it is a dictatorial Majlis which is hindering progress in Maldives, said Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) chairperson and MP Mariya Ahmed Didi speaking at a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the MDP.

The opposition parties which campaigned for a presidential system are trying to rule the country like a parliamentary democracy, Mariya Didi said, referring to opposition DRP’s Majlis bills which aim to limit the policy options of the government. The MDP sees these bills as an encroachment by the Majlis into the mandate of the executive branch of government, she said.

Members of independent commissions usually work with government agencies, and the president usually names the members of such commissions in almost all countries with a presidential system, Mariya Didi said, but because the opposition DRP controls the Majlis, it has decided that the Majlis would recruit the members of independent commissions.

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Maldives opposition parties allege corruption in Male International Airport privatisation deal

Corruption is rife in Male International Airport privatisation process, according to the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), the Peoples Alliance (PA), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and the Jumhooree Party (JP). The opposition parties have signed an agreement to work against the privatisation process.

The government’s haste in the bidding process, at a time when there is a bill pending in the Majlis which would regularise the process of selling public assets, is troubling and a case would be lodged with the anti-corruption commission, say the president of DQP, Dr. Hassan Saeed and the president of People’s Alliance, Abdulla Yameen.

Saeed also noted that the move comes at a time when public confidence in the government is at rock-bottom. The airport should be developed by the Maldives Airports Company (MAC), according to Saeed, and if the same provisions which the government is allowing for GMR were allowed for MAC, it would be able to develop the airport.

They also said that a Majlis amendment is necessary to raise the airport service charge from US$18 to US$25, which the government has promised to GMR.

Experts have said that privatisation of US airports was one reason which led to 9/11 attacks in US, said Yameen, and privatisation could cause loss of revenues to companies which operate through the airport, such as Island Aviation Services. GMR’s fuel charges, airport tax and charges for flights landing at the airport could cause tourist arrivals to decline, he said.

Because of the financial and economic crisis, this is not the best time to sell an asset like the airport, Yameen said, and in the bidding process, highest marks should not be given to the company which pays the largest amount upfront, but to the company which gives the most throughout the lease period.

The government has never requested money for the airport development from the Majlis, Yameen said.

GMR should consider the views of the people and the opposition parties before making a final decision, said Dr Hassan Saeed in response to a question from Miadhu Daily. “Even if they sign the agreement, and even if they take over management of the airport, we will do whatever we can to cancel the agreement. We will go to Court, and I have a guarantee that we can win this case.”

Haveeru Online reports the Bangalore-based GMR has proposed to pay US$78 million (almost Rf1 billion) upfront to the Maldivian government, one percent of the total profit in the first year (until 2014) and 10% of total profit from 2015 to 2035. The company also agreed to pay 15% of fuel trade revenues in the first four years and 27% from 2015 to 2035.

President Nasheed has said that with privatisation, “the government will be able to save over US$300 million in investments.” The government had launched the airport tender process in October 2009. The President said the International Financial Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, worked with the government throughout the process, and he was “confident the tender process was transparent and ensured there was no room for corruption.”

The GMR group is named after its founder G. M. Rao, and Kiran K Gandhi is chairman of its airports division.

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