Day: August 7, 2010

Legal limbo leads MNDF to confiscate Supreme Court keys, after Majlis cancels last session of interim period

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) confiscated the keys to the Supreme Court on Saturday afternoon pending the conclusion of the interim period of the Constitution.

Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the President had ordered the move “to prevent entry until the Majlis (parliament) reaches a consensus [on appointing the new Supreme Court judges].”

Zuhair explained the decision to confiscate the keys was made “to avoid unforeseen circumstances, because right now there is a difference of opinion as to what will happen should the Majlis fail to reach a decision by tonight.”

The current Supreme Court judges have previously declared themselves permanent in a letter sent to President Mohamed Nasheed, although the President’s member on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), Aishath Velezinee, claims this was unconstitutional “and no one has recognised or even mentioned it.”

According to the constitution, the president is required to nominate the new Supreme Court judges following consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), and then present the names to parliament to approve in a vote.

Nasheed has already nominated Supreme Court Judge Uz Ahmed Faiz Hussain for the position of Chief Justice, however “he has not been able nominate [the rest of the bench] because parliament has not yet passed the Bill on Judges that stipulates the number required,” Velezinee said.

The constitution obligates parliament to resolve the matter before the end of today, however scheduled sessions were postponed to 8pm and then eventually cancelled in a statement issued by the Speaker, opposition DRP MP Abdulla Shahid, on the grounds that both sides were unable to decide the matter.

The Majlis was also to approve nominations for the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

Under the constitution, the cancellation effectively leaves the country in a legal ‘limbo’ period as of midnight, without several institutions functioning legitimately including the country’s highest court – “as of midnight there are no Supreme Court judges”, Zuhair noted.

Parliament has also yet to approve the reinstated cabinet ministers.

A senior government official told Minivan News that “rather than leave the country without a legitimate judiciary on conclusion of the interim period, the President will decree at midnight that the trial courts [the Criminal and High Courts] will continue to function, while an interim body of credible judges of high reputation will serve as an appellate court, under advisory of the Commonwealth.”

Appellate courts have been used in countries like the United States, and are typically limited to reviewing decisions made by lower courts rather than hearing new evidence.

Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed confirmed the President had proposed to decree that the two trial courts continue to function after midnight, “to give parliament time to pass the necessary legislation.”

However Dr Shaheed said the President would not re-mandate the current Supreme Court bench, “because that would be a de-facto extension and could go on forever.”

“Parliament has failed to complete legislation that would give legitimacy to the Supreme Court [under the new Constitution],” Dr Shaheed said.

He also said that while the government had asked the Commonwealth for assistance running the interim appellate court, it had not yet received an answer. The government had also briefed the UN Resident Coordinator, Andrew Cox, he said.

“It’s not just tonight’s cancellation [of parliament],” Dr Shaheed said. “Parliament has had two years to do these things. It baffles me why they would put the country in this situation – tonight people should be asking who they should blame.”

Minivan News was still waiting for a response from Attorney General Husnu Suood at time of press, following the announcement of the appellate court.

Suood had previously told newspaper Haveeru that parliament had the option of extending the transition period for another one to two months with a two-thirds majority vote, or by appointing a new chief justice before midnight.

“Questionable matters will arise when this state is over,” Suood told Haveeru.

Velezinee told Minivan News that the country was now “in a vacuum”, and the JSC had been asked to be on call to meet with the President and suggest names should parliament reach a decision.

She noted that the JSC now consisted of eight members, as the Supreme Court’s member and head of the commission Mujthaz Fahmy and ex-officio member of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Dr Mohamed Latheef no longer retained their positions on conclusion of the interim period, until reappointed.

“I have asked the Secretary General to call the police if they try and enter the building,” she added.

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Comment: That evil democracy thing

A fool and his valuables are soon parted.

The general understanding of this adage is, of course, that a fool cannot truly appreciate the value of his prized possessions, and is easily swindled out of it.

Truer words have not been spoken, as evidenced in this article originally published on the website of a local NGO that calls itself the ‘Islamic Foundation of the Maldives’.

The article, titled ‘The Evils of Democracy’, is clearly inspired by the neo-conservative school of debate that absolves the writer from furnishing any intellectually honest evidence to support his claims, as long as he makes a decidedly passionate attack against a straw-man caricature – in this case, the Islamist’s skewed perception of democracy.

The post is riddled with such vacuous assertions as ‘Democracy is a system of infidelity..’ and ‘…openly hostile to the faith of monotheism’, but provides very little by means of actual evidence to justify these bizarre, sweeping statements.

It would be easy to dismiss the unfortunate article as mere farcical comedy, if it weren’t so highly irresponsible and dangerous.

As clueless as this NGO appears to be about the concept of democracy, there are actually ordinary, simple-minded folk who form judgments based solely upon information derived from such dubious and disreputable sources.

The author of the article betrays no evidence of an ability to distinguish between democracy, hedonism, capitalism and anarchy – all of which have been conveniently bracketed together as ‘evil democracy’. Nor does he suggest any alternatives to his rather bleak, dystopian portrayal of democracy.

The article mentions that, in democracies, the functions of the state are divided among three separate powers, but fails to mention why this is a bad thing.

As expected, it also criticises the existence of an opposition, and the din, commotion and confrontation this ensues. What it fails to mention is that this ‘noise’ is actually the sound of openly expressed opinions, and a public that actively participates in its own governance.

The often cacophonous noise of energetic democratic debate is much more soothing to the ear than the defeated, graveyard silence that pervades present day theocracies.

Democracy is definitely not a fool-proof system – nor is any other system, for that matter. That is because humans are flawed beings. We are all susceptible to greed, corruption and avarice.

But that is precisely why democracy is the best system we have today. Democracy has inherent checks and balances, and pays obeisance to concepts like Human Rights, accountability, public mandates and universal franchises on which the system is erected.

The tendency towards theocracy among neo-conservatives is baffling.

Would this NGO rather prefer the alternative, where every flood, famine and pestilence is conveniently pinned by authorities on the common man’s sins?

Would they rather Dhivehin lived under a system where the failures of an incompetent ruling clergy – the illiteracy, starvation and poverty that have become hallmarks of such societies – are routinely blamed on the common man’s defiance of God and lack of ideological purity?

When apologists for clergy-rule claim that democracy is an example of Human Law superseding ‘Divine Law’, will they also kindly point out to us a single example of a modern theocracy that is not a clear-cut case of a small group of humans dictating their ruthless will on others – only, this time with no accountability or room for redress?

It is an absolutely fatuous claim that clergy-controlled human-rights disasters like Saudi Arabia or Iran are somehow more sparkling examples of Islamic values than a democratic state like the Maldives.

The Maldives could have meekly followed the pied piper’s malevolent tunes, established a theocracy, and joined the league of failed states. Instead, Dhivehin have chosen to empower themselves with a modern democracy – of its own free will, without any foreign coercion.

The Muslims in this country, like the vast majority of Muslims around the world, have chosen a democratic system for the simple reason that IT WORKS. It has given its people a voice. It has prevented tyrants from abusing their authority with impunity. It has made their governments accountable to them.

The article finally comes to a head with a tired, worn-out, Chicken Little narrative about how democracy is a ‘conspiracy’ of the (entirely imaginary-) “diabolical forces of Jews and Christians” that, for unspecified reasons, have been compulsively harassing our fundamentalist friends since the dawn of time.

Even if we were to buy for a moment, for this NGO’s benefit, that democracy is a sinister plot devised by medieval Europeans (presumably in collaboration with ancient Greeks) to ‘divide’ and destabilise future Islamic societies they couldn’t possibly have foreseen, it is still a highly facetious remark.

For one thing, isn’t it rather absurd that the alleged diabolical agents of Judaism and Christianity have chosen to implement this ‘evil democracy’ thing in their own homelands – with much success to boot?

Modern democracies leave the clergy-states and dictatorships of the world biting the dust on every single human development index.

Today, the democratic Europeans and Americans are able to clothe and feed their people. Their elected governments have lifted millions out of poverty and starvation, and given them jobs and opportunities. They have the best health care systems in the world, the best schools, the top universities and made unparalleled scientific and cultural advances.

Far from being divided into tiny, squabbling factions, countries that were killing and bombing each other just a few decades ago, have opened up their borders to allow their people to travel and mingle freely.

Despite the diversity of their languages and cultures, their societies have stabilised enough to come together and form a common Parliament, implement a common currency, and adopt a common flag.

A spectacularly failed ‘plot to divide people’, by any measure.

Given this reality, the factions that continue to advocate a system where a limited group of people is allowed to oppress everyone else on the grounds of ideology can only be taken for those who seek to occupy the plush seats of authoritarian power. One suspects this is also the case for some of our own homegrown organisations.

May the Maldives beat back these retrograde forces, and continue to uphold the proud democratic freedoms that they have earned through sheer perseverance and sacrifices.

In the best democratic spirit, we must make Dhivehi Raajje a scintillating example of peace, democracy and harmony that so many other Muslim nations have failed to achieve.

Or else we’d end up like the fabled fool, too dense to appreciate the true worth of our invaluable freedoms, and caged once again in the all-too-familiar dark mental prisons of fear.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
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‘Dough Head’ exhibition rises to occasion

How does it feel to have an 8 kilogram lump of dough on your head? The 99 participants of the Dough Portrait series has the answer to that question.

The Dough portraits are the first of their kind to be held in Maldives, features people of all ages and sizes. The one common theme found in the photographs? The lump of dough that covers their faces.

“I wanted to remove the barriers that exist between the person and art,” says Søren Dahlgaard, the artist behind this innovative concept.

A universal medium

Friends and family members of the artist, as well as people who passed in front of the art gallery last year in July, were asked to pose for the portraits.

“I find the process of creating the portraits with the people the most interesting” says Dahlgaard, adding that it’s a very democratic process. Democratic it is – the photos of all those who participated finding a place on the wall of the gallery.

The posers are invited to play with and mold the dough before placing it on their heads.

Some found the dough cold, others say their heads wobbled under the weight of it.

The participants seem to have different reactions to it. Nihama, 24, sits calm and composed, with a lump of dough on her face, as if saying ‘I won’t bat an eyelid.’ Manih,32 is more reflective, doing his own version of David the thinker, a hand holding his dough covered chin. Hassan, 23 and nonchalant, holds a boduberu in his hands, the lengthening dough reaching for it.

“It’s my sculpture material,” says Dahlgaard of the dough, adding that he likes the universality of dough: “Here it’s made into roshi, in Italy it becomes pizza, in India it’s a naan and in France it’s a croissant.”

Sculpture materials like marble and bronze last for 100’s of years, but the dough does not even last a day.

“Photos are also taken quickly as the dough might fall off.”

A question of identity

Some of the earliest paintings were those of portraits commissioned by the rich and the ruling elite, as an everlasting memory.

The focal point of a portrait has always remained the face, with the measure of how good it is being judged by how well an artist can capture the expression or the mood of the person.

Dahlgaard’s photos are a new way of looking at portraits, where the face, the primary identifying feature of a person is hidden.

“The face does not have much to do with the personality, the face is like a mask,” he says.

And yet the mask is not static. The dough changes on 16 year-old Marina’s head, it looks like an inverted bucket with rough edges. On Hajja,21, it seems like a living breathing thing, about to engulf her. On Samfa,63, it seems to mimic her hands, pointing one finger forward.

“The shape always changes, even if you don’t try, the dough moves on its own and changes.”

Just like a face, the way the dough falls seems to give the person a unique identity.

An unusual journey

Like his art, Dahlgaard’s journey to being a full time artist is also unusual. After finishing his studies from the Slade School of Fine Arts in London, Dahlgaard – who comes from Copenhagen in Denmark –  spent two years in Maldives doing a pilot project in farming.

“My wife is Maldivian, and I felt my children would benefit from living in the Maldives for a while.”

Realistically, Dahlgaard says he knew that it would not be possible to make a living creating art straight out of art school.

So he grew vegetables in Hibalhidhoo, an uninhabited island in Baa Atoll while nursing a hidden agenda: “I wanted to create an artists-in-residence island.”

He gave up the idea as it needed too high an investment. “But farming was a challenge and needed creativity as in all jobs.”

Dahlgaard moved back to Copenhagen and entered the art scene. His dough portraits were first produced and exhibited in the National Art Gallery in Denmark in 2008, before moving on to Kosovo and Maldives.

The project will move to eight different locations around the world. “I would like to do the dough portraits and cover famous faces of Hollywood.”

Dahlgaard identifies with the Japanese Avante-Garde group Gutai, active in the 1950’s. Their theme of decay and destruction he says “ is only an element in my way of thinking.” It’s more their approach to making art active that is the mainstay of Dahlgaard’s work.” It’s things like running through canvases, throwing paint, the act of reducing the barrier between people and art.”

As such all of Dahlgaard’s work invites participation: “The Breathing Room”, showcased in Rohde Contemporary in Copenhagen and at the Singapore Biennale in 2008, is a white room. A living breathing room – with walls made of soft pvc canvas, it changes into convex and concave shapes mimicking human breathing.

His next project for Maldives involves the famous portrait painter ‘the dough worrier.’ “I’d like to video the dough worrier in a Maldivian island.”

Strapped with 70 baguettes all over his body and face, Dahlgaard is the worrier that pours paint on to a participant, before clicking a photo.

“It’s the frustrated artist, trying to make a masterpiece.”

But before that Maldives will be transported to Denmark. A documentary about Dahlgaard’s brief foray into farming will be showcased in his home country.

In January, when it will be minus 10 degrees in Copenhagen, “the art center is going to be heated to Maldivian temperature and humidity.” Chilli and tomato plants will be grown, while a replica of Dahlgaard’s office will be re-created there.

In Dahlgaard’s world everyday items become part of art, and the viewer is invited to join in instead of looking from afar.

Dough Portraits will be exhibited at the National Art Gallery until August 10, 2010.

NAG will be open on weekdays from 11:00am to 16:00pm and from 20:00pm to 23:00pm.

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Cabinet passes regulation limiting ministers’ interactions with parliament

The cabinet has approved a new set of procedures governing its interactions with parliament.

“After discussing the draft Cabinet rules of procedure, the Cabinet passed relevant clauses for communications with the People’s Majlis,’’ said the president’s office in a statement last week.”

Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed said the regulations “are quite important in terms of how the government will interact with parliament from now on. It draws a clear boundary.”

Referencing article 115 (f) of the Constitution, the new regulations state that a cabinet member can only be summoned to the parliament on mention of a the appropriate article in the constitution, and shall answer questions only during a parliament meeting.

Furthermore, cabinet ministers shall only answer to the parliament “if the cabinet minister is given the notice 14 days prior”,  and “shall only answer questions that the minister must according to the law on questioning ministers.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader and MP Ali Waheed said the approved procedures were “against the spirit of the constitution” and would be void.

‘’Actually, parliament has yet to approve a cabinet. When a cabinet is established we will summon them to committee meetings as well –  ministers must appear before committees in the interest of the people – the constitution is very clear. Without doubt these new procedures are void – nobody can narrow the summoning of cabinet ministers to parliament.’’

However, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Shifaz said that according to the constitution, the reality for cabinet ministers was very different.

“It does not say that the ministers have to be present at committees hearings – the constitution says that ministers should be answerable to the parliament inside the parliament chamber, not in the committees,’’ said Shifaz.

He said that the opposition still had to approve the cabinet, and that otherwise summoning them for questioning was an act against parliamentary system.

‘’It is not the people who the opposition wish that should be in the president’s cabinet, it should be people appointed by the president,’’ he added.

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