American climate change scientist Michael Mann has been cleared of manipulating his research findings, reports ABC Australia.
The allegations caused an international furore and reinforced the stance of climate change deniers, after emails between Dr Mann and other scientists were taken from a computer at the University of East Anglia in Britain and posted anonymously on the internet.
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(0)The Maldives government is preparing evidence to file a case in the Supreme Court over the Majlis attempt to “grab powers invested with the executive”, according to the President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair in a statement to the Asian Tribune.
The government is also attempting to hold talks with opposition parties to encourage co-operation between the Majlis and the executive branch of government, said Zuhair.
Opposition DRP official Dunya Maumoon confirmed there have been “indications” of approaches for talks, and she criticised the government for attempting to govern without cabinet ministers.
(0)Dislikes(0)The European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with South Asia intends to discuss the situation in the Maldives at its next meeting in Brussels on 15 July.
Political instability in Maldives could have a crucial impact on the social, economic and tourism development of the country, says the chairperson of the delegation, Jean Lambert, in a statement issued in Brussels yesterday.
Maldives “needs stability in order to capitalise on its location,” she said, calling on political parties and institutions “to work constructively and in good faith” and “to promote good governance and allow the country to tackle the challenges it faces.”
(0)Dislikes(0)The amendments to the Maldives Public Finance Act were ‘the Grand Finale in the process of decimating the Executive, once and for all’, according to the latest update on Ibra’s Blog.
Ibrahim Ismail, one-time member of the Majlis for Male during the presidency of Maumoon Gayyoom, was an early supporter of democratic reform.
His blog analyses the cultural, legal and political dimensions of reform in Maldives.
“With the change in government, there was trepidation among many that there may be a witch hunt to bring criminals within the former regime to justice. The relative security of the Majlis was sought by many, and some succeeded. After the initial scrambling for personal security, some were emboldened…”
(0)Dislikes(0)The country’s ability to borrow money has been made more difficult by a Majlis member borrowing a large sum of money and lowering the country’s credit rating, said the state minister for finance Ahmed Assad at the President’s Office press conference yesterday. Now that person has made a request to the government to give him a ‘letter of no objection’ to borrow a further large sum, he said.
Assad refused to name the Majlis member at the conference but it is widely assumed in the Maldivian media that the Majlis member is Gasim Ibrahim.
The European Investment Bank is complaining that the country is already in default, said Assad, and because of that complaint, the Maldivian government is having difficulty borrowing money and the country is in serious financial difficulties. It is jeopardising the government’s ability to borrow money for important projects like housing, he said.
The Majlis has left a tax bill in committee for a whole year, along with around 30 other bills which the executive government has submitted, said MDP MP Eva Abdulla last night on TV Maldives’ Rajje Miadhu (Maldives Today) current affairs program. These bills were designed to provide services to the people which were promised during the presidential election, she said, and instead of doing anything to pass the bills, the opposition has been amending existing legislation to remove the powers of the president.
The IMF has set up a program to help the government out of economic crisis, and an essential part of that program is to reduce expenditure and increase revenue, Eva Abdulla explained. The Tourism Goods and Services bill and the Business Profit Tax bill are designed to increase government revenues, she said, and both bills have been sitting in the Majlis committee for over a year and no progress has been made in passing them. The Majlis sub-committee considering the two bills is chaired by the leading businessman in the country [Gasim Ibrahim], she said.
Gasim also the head of the permanent Majlis committee for economic affairs.
This week, Gasim Ibrahim and another Majlis member, People’s Alliance party leader Abdulla Yameen, were arrested on charges of treason involving bribery of Majlis members. The Criminal Court ordered that Yameen, the younger brother of former President Maumoon Gayyoom, be presented in court by the police after midnight less than 6 hours after his arrest. The High Court yesterday endorsed the Criminal Court order. Both men were released from police custody by the Criminal Court and placed under ‘house arrest’ with permission to attend Majlis sittings and committee meetings. Gasim Ibrahim’s swift hearing at the Criminal Court took place without any media presence.
Abdulla Yameen is on the permanent Majlis committee for financial affairs which is headed by his party’s deputy leader Ahmed Nazim who is the deputy speaker of the Majlis. Yameen is also head of the permanent Majlis committee for national security.
Last night on Gasim’s Villa TV station, Yameen appeared and said he was confident that he would win the 2013 Presidential election competing against current MDP President Nasheed and the DRP’s Thasmeen Ali. Yameen also criticised the government’s economic policies and said the current administration had borrowed more than US$500 million in the last 18 months.
What is clear is that both Gasim and Yameen will have to pay significant taxes if the tax laws are passed, and therefore they are delaying the bills, said Eva Abdulla on TVM last night.
Gasim Ibrahim owns resorts and has an extensive businesses and media interests. Yameen also has widespread business interests in the Maldives and was a long-serving minister during President Gayyoom’s 30 year rule.
The present Maldivian government’s ministers resigned en masse in a ceremony held at the President’s Office earlier this week, before Gasim and Yameen were arrested. The ministers, who were appointed by the president, said that they were unable to function due to restrictions placed on them by Majlis amendments to existing administrative and financial legislation.
A press release by Gasim’s Jumhooree party says the arrests were designed to intimidate its leader and Abulla Yameen, and that the resignation of the ministers, followed by the two Majlis members arrests, were contrary to ‘the spirit of the rights granted to them by the constitution’, and designed to place undue influence on the Majlis.
“We know that there are big businessmen and corruption in the country,” said the former foreign minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed at yesterday’s President’s Office press conference. “For a young democracy, corruption is the biggest enemy. Corruption is present in every country. Democracy will only be strengthened when institutions that are supposed to fight against corruption are strengthened. Maldives is at that stage. The question we have to ask is if the current institutions don’t help us, then how can we do this?” Dr. Shaheed said.
“Maldives is in this economic crisis because corruption has been widespread. Particularly because the previous government has looted the country and because they have given priority to their personal interests rather than to the nation,” he said.
Democracy can be strengthened only when looters of the country receive appropriate punishment, Dr. Shaheed added, and the government has to take urgent action against corruption.
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