Two men from Meedhu in Addu Atoll Meedhu have been arrested and charged with the rape of an underage girl, reports Manadhoo Live.
The online newspaper reported that police were now searching for others involved in the case.
Police would not provide further information on the incident.
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(0)The National Library will donate books to prisons and rehabilitation centres in the Maldives, reports Haveeru.
The Library’s Director General Ibrahim Shiyam told the local newspaper that the library would begin a new series of projects to encourage reading in the Maldives, train more librarians, and fund donations of books and resources to other libraries our of its own budget.
Books and bookshelves will be donated to prisons and rehabilitation centres as part of the National Day celebrations, Shiyam said.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has claimed that housing programmes and the Veshi Fahi Male’ programme could only be implemented “perfectly” if islanders elected MDP councilors in the local council elections.
Nasheed and the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), including ‘honorary leader’ former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, have been visiting islands across the nation to campaign for the upcoming Local Council Elections, scheduled to be held on February 5.
The Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), led by former Attorney General Dr Hassan Saeed, has meanwhile alleged that the MDP government has failed to fulfill its election pledges, “and it is almost the end of their term.”
”There is not even a drawing of the flats that the President pledged to built within six months following the parliamentary elections,” said the DQP in a statement. ”The talks that he gave in many islands claiming that he would establish airports and sewerage systems also turned out be nothing but dreams.”
DQP claimed that during the recent two years, the government-appointed councilors had worked to promote MDP.
”There are only a few days left of the MDP government’s term, and not one of the 10,000 flats he has pledged have been built so far,” DQP said. ”For two years MDP councilors were in the islands and no pledge was fulfilled – this proves that MDP councilors have failed.”
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz Fahmy meanwhile claimed that a vote given to the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) would be “wasted”.
‘’MDP is a party that makes pledges and fulfills pledges,’’ said Imthiyaz. “As MDP is in administration today, development and progress can only be brought about by electing a person that supports MDP.’’
He said that the “wisest” people would “choose to follow success”.
Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will speak at an opposition rally in Male’ this evening.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has declined to ratify the controversial MP Privileges Bill, and has returned it to parliament for amendment.
The President made the decision following legal council from the Attorney General Ahmed Ali Sawad, and consultation with the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).
The bill, which was submitted by Vilufushi MP Riyaz Rasheed, was passed with 44 to 21 in favour, and 10 abstentions, and would have seen MPs earning thousands of dollars more in salary and allowances than MPs in countries such as France, India and Italy.
The matter has triggered lively demonstrations outside parliament, while a group of “concerned citizens” yesterday petitioned the President claiming that not only was the salary increase excessive, but that elements within it gave MPs extrajudicial and unconstitutional privileges. The Bill was about less about state-building and more about status, they claimed.
“It’s tough for the MPs to justify getting tax-free cars, in the middle of an economic crisis, for an island only two square kilometres in size. It’s not like they have to drive to their constituency offices,” observed a senior source in the President’s Office.
President Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the bill was returned to parliament because the President believed that elements in it conflicted with the constitution.
“For example,” he said, “in contains clauses conflicting with the right to freedom of expression – the bill does not clarify what is meant by the phrase ‘derogatory language’.”
Details such as the maligned tax-free status on MPs’ purchases of motor vehicles “I believe come under the broader heading of items against the spirit of the constitution.”
Furthermore, Zuhair said, the decision by the MPs to raise their own salaries at a time when the rest of the country was in financial crisis was inappropriate, “especially when this was passed before the Business Profit Tax – they neglected to pass laws allowing for state income before raising their own.”
MP salaries, he suggested, “should be in line with a broader pay scale and hierarchy. They should not be paying themselves more than ministers.”
The 12 cabinet ministers earn a base salary of Rf 42,500 (US$3300) and an additional Rf 15,000 (US$1170) ‘living allowance’. The 77 MPs earn a base salary of Rf 42,500 (US$3300) and a living allowance of Rf 20,000 (US$1550). The Privileges Bill includes additional financial benefits including health insurance for life, pensions after a single term of five years’ service, and concessions such as freedom from paying duty on imported cars.
The bill does not include benefits derived from the new pay structure formulated by parliament under Article 102, under which MPs would be entitled to up to an additional Rf 20,000 (US$1550) in ‘committee allowances’. This does not require the President to ratify it.
MPs have defended the salary increases as needed given that their incomes serve as a ‘welfare fund’ for their constituents.
Zuhair stated that the government “does not believe that MPs should spend their salary on welfare for their constituents – they are paid principally so they have a dependable source of income and are therefore less susceptible to corruption – but many instances of assistance being provided in this manner are in fact acts of corruption. Some MPs have not grasped that – they are not supposed to be giving charity.”
Despite the President’s concern over elements of the bill, Zuhair said that Nasheed still believed that serving and former MPs “should be entitled to certain privileges and protections, especially as in the 77 year history of the Majlis many MPs have faced incidences of torture and bankruptcy.”
President Nasheed also declined to ratify a bill to control thalassemia and a bill “giving high priority” to the Dhivehi language.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police have caught and detained a four foot-long crocodile in Thaa Atoll.
Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that the animal was caught on a uninhabited island in Thaa Atoll, after it was discovered by a group of people picnicking on the island.
”It is now in police custody,” said Shiyam. ”Police had to catch it because it was a very dangerous species of animal.”
Shiyam said police had not yet decided what to do with the crocodile, and had informed the Environment Ministry about the crocodile. However State Environment Minister Ahmed Ali Manik said he had no information about the creature.
A nine foot-long crocodile, ‘Kimboo’, is kept in the Kudakudhinge Bageecha (children’s park) in Male’, after it was caught by Maldives National Defence Force cadets in 1998.
In July 2010, students at Billabong High School in Male’ launched a campaign to ‘Save Kimboo’, due to the small size of its enclosure and poor treatment.
(0)Dislikes(0)A group of “concerned citizens” today gathered outside the President’s office to present a letter to president Mohamed Nasheed requesting him not to ratify the recently-passed MPs Privilege Bill.
The protesters claimed that the bill was passed by the MPs for the sake of unfair personal gain, and should not be ratified.
”If the bill is to be passed, the salaries and allowances for the police and independent commissions should be increased,” said a protester, claiming that “we are not from any political party but we are representing the citizens.”
The letter stated that the Privileges Bill was against the Constitution and the objective of parliamentary privileges.
”[The Bill] allows [MPs] to import expensive assets (such as cars) duty free, receive pensions in a different manner to normal citizens, and benefit from an expensive insurance scheme, all of which are definitely against the purpose of MP privileges,” the letter said. ”The bill also obstructs the conduct of criminal justice proceedings in the Maldives, antd contains many other things that independent democratic countries do not accept.”
The letter noted that the bill stated that MPs were to be treated differently in criminal cases, and called on the president to reject the bill and to send it back to parliament.
Minivan News reported last week reported that should the bill be ratified, the salaries and allowances of Maldivian MPs would amount to thousands of dollars more than their counterparts in many developed countries.
In their defence of the bill some MPs have argued that an MP’s salary of Rf 62,500 a month includes allowances, while the cash component represents a “welfare fund” to be drawn on by their constituents.
Even before the proposed increases, every Maldivan indirectly spends approximately US$20.65 (Rf 265) a year (derived via ‘invisible’ taxes on goods such as import duties) supporting roughly 120 politicians across both parliament and the executive, assuming a population of 350,000, GDP of US$1.6 billion and a share of the country’s ‘cake’ equal to about US$5000 (ignoring income disparity).
In similar vein, Australians pay approximately US$7.40 (Rf 95) a year to support parliament and the executive across all states and territories – meaning that Maldivians not only individually pay three times more than Australians in dollar terms to support their politicians, but seven times more when this bill is expressed as part of each citizen’s share of total GDP.
(0)Dislikes(0)The government has selected a foster family for the baby girl who was found abandoned on Hulhumale’ beach on November 25, with the umbilical cord still attached.
Haveeru reported Deputy Health Minister Mariya Ali as saying the family was selecting “after considering the condition of the baby.”
“The panel decided that the couple was the most suitable as they are well educated and are in good health,” Haveeru reported her as saying.
The ministry is also drafting regulations to govern fostering, Haveeru added.
(0)Dislikes(0)A bill governing the minimum wage of people employed in the Maldives has been sent to parliament by MDP Parliamentary Group Leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, reports Haveeru.
“Some salaries are increasing day by day,’ Moosa told Haveeru, in reference to the recently-passed MP Privileges Bill, which grants MPs an Rf20,000 ‘committee allowance’ on told of their existing Rf 62,500 salary package.
“It is important for everyone working in the Maldives to be certain of the minimum wage that can be given to them, that is a right of every citizen. That’s why this bill is being drafted,” Moosa said.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has claimed that no other country in the global Muslim community “grants more freedom to Islamic scholars than in the Maldives.’’
Nasheed said there was no other country in the Islamic community aside than the Maldives where Islamic scholars can say whatever they want.
“No other country in the Islamic world allows scholars to preach the way they do in the Maldives,’’ Nasheed said. “Our goal was to give scholars the freedom to deliver their good religious advice, and to give the opportunity for them to provide council freely.’’
Nasheed noted that Islam had been a way of life in the Maldives for more than 1000 years.
“There is no other country that has continued Islamic Shariah, Islamic principles and Islamic culture for such a long time, other than the Maldives,’’ said Nasheed.
Meanwhile, local media have reported opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as alleging that the current government was intending “to wipe out Islam in the Maldives.”
Thasmeen reportedly claimed that the government had demolished the only Arab medium school in the Maldives “to build 1000 flats.”
”After pledging to built flats, this government decides to demolish the only Arabic medium school in the Maldives,” said Thasmeen. ”this proves that the current government is trying to weaken the religion of Islam which has been here for a long time.”
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