Day: January 18, 2011

Raising parliament’s wall to 12 feet “sends wrong message”: MP Nasheed

Parliament has announced its intention to increase the height of the building’s boundary wall to 12 feet to increase the security of the building.

Secretary General of the Parliament Secretariat Ahmed Mohamed told local media earlier that the decision was made on the advice of security services “to prevent people from climbing the wall or throwing things.” The Secretariat is currently searching for a contractor to do the work.

Parliament has been subjected to recurrent protests outside its gates, most recently by demonstrators against the MP Privileges Bill and new pay structure, which would have seen the salaries of Maldivian MPs increased to a level on par with those in Sweden, as well as introduced a plethora of benefits ranging from tax-free cars to certain immunities from the criminal justice system.

President Mohamed Nasheed refused to ratify the bill yesterday, after consulting the Attorney General, Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and receiving 289 letters of concern from the public.

Independent MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed said that he did not think the solution to public concern regarding MPs and their work was “to turn parliament into a fortress.”

“I believe parliament should be seen to be accessible, open and transparent – a symbol of open democracy,” he said.

“There have been quite a lot of disturbances outside, and odd comments towards parliamentarians sitting having coffees, and a lot of unruly elements in the area, but I don’t believe this justifies raising the wall,” he said.

“I’m not sure how this came about – I just heard they were looking for a contractor to raise the wall. I don’t see it as a solution – it sends a message of defiance, which is not the right message to send to the public.”

MP Nasheed, who abstained from the vote over the controversial MP Privileges bill, said he believed the President was justified in refusing to ratify it.

“I didn’t want to express an opinion on it. There are issues I like, but there are things in it I don’t like. I believe it exceeds the ambit of priviledges and guarantees that parliamentarians need to carry out their work.”

Nasheed said he felt the term ‘priviliege’ could be misleading and said he understood it in a techincal sense as distinct from ‘benefits’, in that ‘privileges’ provided that which MPs required to function free of interference.

“[Things like] elevating status in society, seating orders, use of the [airport] VIP lounge on departure, special treatment at the places MPs visit – I don’t believe these are necessary for an MP to function,” he said. “These are not privileges, they are benefits.”

“As for the criminal [immunities], I don’t believe any parliamentarian should be exempt or receive special treatment from criminal proceedings. There are concerns about the surveillance of MPs and advantages taken of this monitoring, but I believe the criminal justice system must come into action, even against an MP. But there should be a parliamentary mechanism in parallel to check on the process.”

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Wataniya to introduce 4G service to the Maldives

Wataniya has said it is preparing to launch a 4G network service to the Maldives for the first time.

”The introduction of single RAN aligns with the government’s strategies towards carbon neutrality with over 54 per-cent reduction in power consumption per site,” Wataniya said in a statement. ”Battery life has also increased from 4 hours to 16 hours, and in terms of size, there is more than 80 per-cent in reduction of footprint.”

”Wataniya will soon be testing the 4G network, and over the course of the year, will be introducing new products and services,” said the telco.

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Gayoom accepted “concerning” election results “for the sake of people’s security”

Former President and ‘Honorary Leader’ of the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has said that the current government is attempting to erase Islamic education from the Maldives, reports local newspaper Haveeru.

At a rally last night held on Villingili, Haveeru reported Gayoom as saying that citizens “are again in need of a change.”

”I have to say that people are now in need of change. The way things are going now is not the way people want it to be,” said the former President. “Our economy has gone down, respect for the constitution and laws have totally disappeared, violence and assault have become widespread and extreme, thousands of people are unemployed, and the amount of money they earn has decreased,” Haveeru quoted the former president saying.

”The religion of Islam is treated very poorly – you will know the disturbance and troubles caused to the Islamic education centres.”

Gayoom also raised concerns of vote rigging during the Presidential Elections in 2008, and urged people “to have sharp eyes on the Local Council Elections.”

He claimed to have accepted the result of the election “for the sake of people’s security”, Haveeru reported Gayoom as saying.

The former President came out of retirement to campaign for the DRP ahead of the local council elections on February 5.

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Adhaalath Party condemns ”false allegations” made by government officials to Indian magazine

The Adhaalath Party, led by State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussein Rasheed, has hit back at unnamed government officials who described Sheikh Illyas and Sheikh Fareed as “hate preachers” in an interview with India’s magazine ‘The Week’‘.

The party claimed that senior officials of the current government, including former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed and Home Minister Hassan Afeef, made false allegations against a number of the country’s religious leaders, including the vice leader of the Adhaalath Party’s religious council, Sheikh Ilyas Hussein.

Afeef is not acknowledged as a source in the current version of the  article, and Shaheed’s comments to The Week concern the potential involvement of Maldivians in the attacks of Mumbai by Pakistani terrorist group Laskar-el-Taiba (LeT).

In the article Ahmed Muneer, Deputy Commissioner of the Maldives Police, acknowledges that “our radical preachers are enjoying street credibility and radicalisation is visible at the street level. It’s a problem for us, but things would aggravate if the radicals get integrated into Maldivian politics.”

The Adhaalath party claimed that during the interview, “Dr Shaheed said that scholars were delivering lectures with the intention of earning money, and that only a few people attended religious protests because they wanted to go to heaven.”

The Adhaalath Party contends that is is moderate rather than extremist. It is in coalition with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), and fills most of the ranks of the Islamic Ministry.

”As a result of this [article], religious scholars in the Maldives will face many obstacles locally, and it will also affect Maldivian families living in India,” said the Adhaalath Party.

”Sheikh Ilyas is one of the best scholars in the Maldives of recent ages, and many citizens enjoy attending his sermons.”

In retaliation, the Adhaalath Party accused the government of establishing and spreading extremism in the Maldives, and misleading the West in its desperation for money.

”Due to irresponsible comments by senior officials of the government, tourism in the country will also be affected,” warned the Adhaalath Party, accusing the President of “fabricating” earlier statements concerning scholarly freedom in the Maldives.

‘The Week magazine article reports that the LeT has been eyeing the Maldives since early 2000, when its headhunters travelled to Male’. India’s Intelligence Bureau estimated that there were more than 3,000 LeT facilitators and instigators in the Maldives, it reported.

In the article, Mohamed Hameed, head of the internal intelligence department of the Maldivian police, claimed that several hundred Maldivian youth had left the island nation “and their families have never heard from them since.”

”Hameed said ‘recruitment is taking place all the while.’ Radicals like Yoosuf Izadhy — a militant jihadi who is said to have ties with al Qaeda, according to leaked diplomatic cables prepared by then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice—are roaming free. Izadhy was planning to create a terrorist base in the Maldives with support from a Waziristan-based group. He and Hasnain Hameedh had operational aspirations,” the magazine reported.

“The spread of an extremist belief system is fueled by hate preachers like Sheikh Fareed and Sheikh Ilyas. Both are [under surveillance],” the magazine reported a “Maldivian intelligence official” as saying.

Speaking of the 2007 Sultan Park bombing in Male’, in which 12 tourists were injured, Dr Shaheed told The Week that “the ringmaster [prime accused] of the Sultan Park bombing was allowed to leave the country. The incident wasn’t fully investigated. The ringmaster was a young boy. We need to find out who was behind the ringmaster. I think there are unanswered questions.”

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Journalists obstructed us during October protest coverage, say police

The Maldives Police Service has issued a statement following allegations made by the Maldives Media Council (MMC) that police used excessive force on journalists while they were covering the opposition-led protest in October 2010.

”On October 25, the behavior of the journalists covering the riot was different from how they have behaved during other riots, and they were definitely behaving in a way that that obstructed police from carrying out their duties,” said police in a statement.

”The Maldives Police Service hopes that the MMC, as the lawful body [overseeing] the media, will research the degraded actions of a few journalists who were active in the area and will work with them to correct their behaviour.”

The MMC has acknowledged that the behaviour of some journalists covering the riot “lacked discipline and professionalism”.

Police said they respected the media and believed that it was “very necessary in a modern democracy.”

”Police have worked very hard to establish easy ways for the media to gain information they need in matters related to police work,” police said.

The police recommended that the MMC avoid repeated incidents by researching how the media works in other democratic countries when covering riots and dangerous situations.

Several journalists from different media organisations have alleged that police attacked journalists covering the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP)-led protest.

Three journalists from DhiTV, two journalists from VillaTV and one from Miadhu reported that they were attacked by police.

The two journalists from VillaTV were also arrested, handcuffed, and released the same evening.

Following the incident, police claimed that the behaviour of some journalists resembled that of “opposition activists”.

‘’Some journalists opposed police orders and refused to stay in the security zone,” Shiyam said at the time. “It would have gone smoothly if they had worked according to orders given.’’

He said that police some journalists who opposed police orders were moved forcefully.

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