Month: July 2010

Court denies warrant – Nazim arrest attempt fails

Police failed to arrest Majlis deputy speaker and Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim when he arrived home at Aabin in Galolhu ward, reports Haveeru.

The arrest attempt failed when residents of the house prevented police from entering without a warrant, according to Haveeru, and Nazim’s lawyer and several opposition MPs also came to the house.

Last week, the police arrested Mulaku MP Abdulla Yamin and Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim on allegations of treason and bribery of Majlis members, and the Maldives media identified Nazim’s voice in recorded phone conversations discussing negotiations with the Anti-Corruption Commission, an unidentified MP and million rufiyaa payments.

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Malheur des Maldives: Economist

In recent months the Maldives’ fledgling democracy has proved to be self-incapacitating more than progressive, reads an article in the the ‘Newsbook’ of last week’s Economist magazine.

Fed up with an opposition-led parliament, which tends to block its every move, this week the archipelago’s entire cabinet resigned in protest. Political deadlock has ensued.

The president, Mohamed Nasheed, has stayed put, alongside his vice-president. He claims that an informal alliance of lawmakers is sabotaging his every proposal; an aide described it as “scorched-earth politics”.

The opposition has already passed an amendment which allows it to veto every lending or leasing agreement made between the government and an overseas party. Thus in one fell swoop it was able to scupper Mr Nasheed’s planned privatisation of the capital’s airport and much else besides.

Hopes for foreign investment—at the core of the new government’s ambitions and an essential part of its effort to plug the fiscal deficit—have been dashed.

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50 acre business development at Hulhule: GMR

A 50 acre business centre is proposed for Hulhule, north of the present Male International Airport, reports Haveeru.

“Our idea is to make that land a business centre of the Maldives. It was proposed based on our experience and the recommendations of US experts. If the government and the public want it, we are ready to do it,” said P Sripathy, CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited.

There are many business opportunities in that area, he said. “For instance, people would be surprised if we say it is a mini transhipment hub. Many international flights, including large aircraft, land there. So cargo is being transited through Maldives from Colombo and other places. There are noticeable aspects there. The place holds value.”

The new terminal would be constructed north of the runway, according to Sripathy. “First phase of the new terminal will commence on a 45,000 square-metre area of land. The number of aircraft that can use the terminal per hour will increase once the runway is developed and the parking and taxi areas are expanded,” he added.

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‘Climategate’ scientists cleared again

A six-month independent inquiry has cleared climate scientists accused of manipulating their data, but criticised them for being too secretive and defensive about their research.

The inquiry panel said it had not found any evidence to undermine the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

It is the third inquiry into the email affair, dubbed ‘Climategate’, and clears the head of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and his colleagues of the most serious charges.

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British royal spending under scrutiny

British prime minister David Cameron has refused an increase in official annual income for the Queen and her family.

“It was revealed this week that in the last financial year the Queen spent $69 million – not including the costs of Royal security which are kept secret,” reports the Australian ABC’s Emma Alberici. “Money is spent on official functions, salaries for the Queen’s 1,200 staff, palace maintenance and travel.”

Robert Verkaik the legal affairs editor at the Independent newspaper has taken his quest for information about Palace expenses all the way to the High Court, she writes.

“There’s someone who lives rent free with two bedrooms, one reception room and their sole job is to look after the royal library,” Robert Verkaik said. What he discovered was that the Royal Family were either paying salaries or providing rent free accommodation to minor royals. They perform little to no public functions and are virtually unknown, even in their own country. Also, in one case, Mr Verkaik says the housekeeper was given a five-bedroom, five-living room apartment rent free within the grounds of Windsor Castle.

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President reinstates cabinet, awaits parliament’s consent

President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed has reinstated his cabinet ministers in a signing ceremony before Chief Judge of the Civil Court, Ali Sameer, following their mass resignation on June 29, in protest against what they claimed were the “scorched-earth politics” of the opposition-majority parliament.

The only cabinet reshuffle concerned Mahmoud Razee, former Minister for Transport, Civil Aviation and Communications, who was moved to the post of Minister of Economic Development. His former portfolio remains open.

“Cabinet decided to stick together on the issue and resign, to show they are not hell bent on the salaries and niceties of their positions and to prove they want to do good work for the country,” Nasheed claimed.

Following the reinstatement of his ministers, President Nasheed denied the week-long resignation was a publicity stunt for political gain.

“We had to make everyone aware of the gravity of the situation,” he said. “Cabinet members have been complaining about corruption in parliament for some while, [particularly] vote buying.”

“We were last week able to investigate the matter, and I expect police to pass the findings of the investigation to the Prosecutor General’s Office within the next 10 days,” he added.

The ‘new’ cabinet now requires parliamentary consent before resuming office. The President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair confirmed the government had been delaying the reinstatement until it received signs of cooperation from the main opposition party.

Zuhair acknowledged the strategy was “risky”, an observation confirmed by DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, who claimed “there are definitely ministers that the DRP will not approve, and will have to leave the cabinet.”

Zuhair however noted that the wording of the procceedure according to the Constitution was different to the appointment of the heads of independent commissions.

“Parliament is only required to ‘consent or not to consent’ to the [whole] cabinet,” he explained. “Even if the opposition is factionalised, if we get 7-8 MPs on our side the motion will be carried.”

President Nasheed has met opposition party leaders alone in a meeting on Monday evening mediated by US Ambassador Patricia Butenis, including leader of the majority opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali.

President Nasheed today said that while Thasmeen had not explicitly agreed to cooperate in the meeting, “individual DRP MPs have called me, and said they do not wish the government and parliament to remain deadlocked.”

He said the MPs had claimed they did not wish the entire institution of parliament “to be affected by the actions of individual MPs.”

Foreign embassies and international agencies have been nervously eyeing the seemingly erratic behaviour of the country’s administration, fearing a step backward following its democratic transition.

Yesterday Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa also arrived in the country, in a surprise visit on the invitation of President Nasheed to help resolve the political deadlock. He has already met with Thasmeen and former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, at his residence Maafannu Aliwaage.

Thasmeen did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Photo: Umair Badeeu

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“Here’s some cash”: Kulhudhufushi islanders open charity box for MP Nasheed

Kulhudhufushi islanders have launched a charity fund box to help their elected MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed, an independent member of parliament, after he admitted it was his voice saying ”I need some cash” to Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim in a leaked audio clip.

Gasim is currently under house arrest while he is investigated by police for vote-buying and treason.

”We felt pity for our MP Mohamed Nasheed after hearing the leaked audio clip,” said Mohamed Naeem, a Kulhudhufushi islander who heads the group that opened the charity box.

”When he first asked Gasim about his financial condition, we thought that Nasheed was about to help Gasim. But then we heard he was running low financially himself and was in need of some cash.”

Naeem said the group of islanders did not wish their MP to be begging people for money, and had set up a charity box on the beach of the island for everyone to put money in to help Nasheed.

”We do not like the way he begged,” he added. “We heard him saying that he would send someone somewhere to pick up the money in case people might see.”

”We will keep the box open until 6:00pm on Saturday, and then we will open it and count the money,” Naeem said. ”Then we will hand all the money to Nasheed’s office, and if they refuse to deliver the money to him, we will send it to him directly.”

Many people on the island had already walked down the beach to the box and were putting money in it, Naeem said.

”We are not a NGO, not even anybody from the island office – we’re just normal islanders,” he added.

As an elected member of parliament, Nasheed receives Rf62,500 (US$4864) per month from the State.

Nasheed was not responding to calls at time of press.

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Foreign minister of Sri Lanka visits former president

Foreign minister of Sri Lanka Professor G L Peeris has visited former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s official residence Maafannu Aliwaage.

Leader of Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and former foreign minister and leader of DRP women’s wing Dhunya Maumoon participated in the meeting.

Two senior officials of the Sri Lankan foreign ministry and MP Sajin Gunavarudhana also attended the meeting.

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