Daily news paper Haveeru has reported that Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Thasmeen has said that he has heard rumors that a no-confidence motion was to be filed against speaker of parliament Abdulla Shahid.
The paper said it was attempting to get more information regarding the matter.
Neither Shahid or Thasmeen were responding to calls at time of press.
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(0)The Cabinet is scheduled to hold next week’s meetings in Kulhudhufushi in Haa Dhaalu Atoll, reported Haveeru.
Haveeru quoted an official at the President’s office saying that next week Thursday’s cabinet meeting will be held in Kulhudhufushi and that he does not know how long the ministers will remain in the island.
The paper also said that staffs at the President’s Office have been working in Kulhudhufushi for the preparation of next week’s meeting.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed five judges to the High Court of the Maldives, including Shuaib Hussein Zakariyya, Dr Azmiraldha Zahir, Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, Abbas Shareef and Ali Sameer.
Dr Azmiraldha Zahir is first female judge to be appointed to the High Court, and the JSC said in a statement, was appointed despite the objection of Sheikh Shuaib Abdurahman on the grounds of her gender.
”The only commission member that did not vote for Dr Azmiraldha was Sheikh Shuaib Abdhulrahman,” said the commission. ”The reason he did not vote was that he said none one of the four sunnah sects of Islam allow females to judge in cases.”
However, the commission said Dr Azmiraldha had been appointed as one of the five judges during last night’s meeting, by the vote of eight among nine present members of the commission. All the members of the JSC were present at the meeting excluding the President’s Member Aishath Velezinee, who has contended that the commission is unfit to appoint the judiciary because the far lower standards of ethical and moral conduct it demands from judges, than is required by the Judicial Code of Conduct as passed by the JSC itself.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is furthermore investigating the JSC for embezzlement of state funds. Last Thursday, Velezinee also filed criminal charges with police against six members of the JSC.
All judges appointed to High Court, excluding Dr Azmiraldha Zahir, were appointed by the majority vote of the commission, the JSC said.
Currently there are very few female judges in Maldivian courts.
”According to the policy of appointing judges to the High Court, which was approved by the JSC, any member that does not vote for a person among those who received the highest mark, shall explain the reason why he did not vote,” said the JSC.
Meanwhile, daliy newspaper Haveeru has reported that a judge at the Criminal Court has filed a case against the appointment of judges in the Civil Court, claiming that there were policy and legal issues in the appointment procedure.
Haveeru reported that Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf told the paper that there were issues with the High Court Judges Appointment Policy established by the JSC.
According to Haveeru he said that the policy states that if a female and male scored even marks, higher priority shall be given to the female when appointing judges for the high court bench, and that this was against the constitution and Labor Act.
Haveeru also reported that Ali Sameer was the chief judge of Civil Court, Shuaib Hussein was the Chief Judge of the Juvenile Court, Abdul Rauf Ibrahim was the registrar of the Civil Court and Abbas Shareef was the lawyer of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Noonu Atoll Office has issued a notice to all staff members banning from using social networking services such as Facebook during office hours.
Online newspaper Manadhoo Live, based in Noonu Atoll, reported that the issue was raised when a female staff member working in the office published a comment against a candidate running for Manadhoo Council in the upcoming Local Council Elections.
However head of the Noonu Atoll Office, Abdulla Abdul Wahid, told Minivan News that the restriction on social networks was not related to the issue.
”We just want our staffs to follow the Civil Servants’ code of conduct,” said Abdulla. ”We have noticed that many staff working in the office have been ignoring office work by getting involved in social networks.”
He said that staffs were using social networks during office hours rather than getting involved with their work.
”Maybe whoever said [the ban] was related to the issue of publishing a comment relating to the candidate thought we restricted access social network because it happened at the same time,” he said, ”but it’s not really because of that. Staff have been spending too much time on Facebook instead of doing their work.”
He said the notice was issued according to the Civil Servants’ regulations, which stated that the internet access in the workplace should only be used for office purposes.
Receptionists and officials at the Human Resources department of the Noonu Atoll office refused to comment on the issue.
Social media adoption in the Maldives is prodigious, particularly Facebook, with almost a third of the country’s population signed up to the service. According to statistics from Facebook, the Maldives has 89,460 registered users – two thirds of whom are male. Almost half Maldivian Facebook users are aged under 18.
(0)Dislikes(0)Is former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom reviewing his political options for the future in the light of the inevitable mid-term crises facing the MDP Government of his successor, asks Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror newspaper.
“The question has acquired significance in the light of Gayoom returning from a Malaysian holiday earlier than expected, to spearhead the campaign of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) for the local council polls due in February.
“Proving critics wrong, Gayoom had made an honourable exit after 30-long years of controversial rule when Nasheed as leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) defeated him in the run-off presidential polls in 2008. The change-over came with an understanding that the new Government would allow him to retire in honour with protection against legal action for alleged wrong-doings while in power. The MDP campaign had centered on human rights violations under the Gayoom regime, and Nasheed himself was designated ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ by Amnesty International.
“Hiccups in the implementation of the agreement apart, there was nothing to suggest in the interim that Gayoom would consider throwing his hat into the ring. This was so, despite the fact that Gayoom had handed over the reins of the party to his vice-presidential running-mate, Thasmeen Ali. He however agreed to remain as the ‘Supreme Leader’ of the party, in what was considered a sinecure position with no real responsibility or authority. Not any more, or so it now seems.”
(0)Dislikes(0)A tourism boom in Sri Lanka following the end of the country’s long-running civil war will not impact tourism in the Maldives, the former President of Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, Srilal Miththapala, was reported as saying in the Lankanewspapers website.
“It is a misconception to think that Sri Lanka and Maldives will be competing in the tourism industry as both countries offer different products. The Maldives islands and beaches are unique and it draws tourists who like that kind of an environment and in Sri Lanka we cater to a different genre of tourists, the site reported him as saying.
“With several major hotel and resort chains such as Indigo, Movenpick and Shangri-La taking steps to invest in Sri Lanka, questions have been raised as to whether the current boom in tourism would draw fierce competition between Sri Lanka and its friendly neighbour, Maldives which maintains a thriving tourism industry,” the site reported.
“Despite many being under the impression that the current trend in Sri Lanka might threaten the Maldivian tourism sector, several hoteliers in Sri Lanka are of the view that the developments in Sri Lanka would not have much of an impact in Maldives as both countries deal with two different areas of tourism.
(0)Dislikes(0)The ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has announced that it will launch a two day campaign to celebrate ‘Yellow Day’ in the Maldives – representing the party’s colour (the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party is blue).
”To celebrate this day, MDP will hold meetings at different parts of the nation at 9pm on [tonight] night,” said the MDP in a statement. ”From 21st January to 22nd, MDP candidates will go around to meet citizens in all islands.”
Putting up posters and banners, and colouring the city yellow in different areas is also a part of the ‘yellow day’, said the party.
(0)Dislikes(0)Bangkok-based developer of the Coral Ville Hulhumale’ project, Pruksa-HDC, has announced that all structural work on two apartment blocks has been competed, with work commencing on the second two blocks.
Interior work is halfway finished and will be followed by exterior painting, the company said in a statement.
Construction on the housing project began in August 2010.
(0)Dislikes(0)Annual crime statistics released by the Maldives Police Service show an 11 percent decline in cases reported in 2010, compared with 2009.
The number of cases reached an all-time high in 2009 at 19,259 for the year, with a particularly dramatic spike in crime between 2006 (8560 cases) and 2008 (17674).
A comparison of crimes logged from 2008-2010 shows a general decline in drug offences from 2484 cases in 2008 to 1618 in 2010.
Assaults spiked in 2009 to 2000 cases, but 2010 was on par with 2009 levels with 1638 cases reported.
‘Theft’ remained one of the country’s most reported crimes, and was relatively consistent across the three-year period with 4000 cases reported in 2010.
Reporting of domestic violence cases remained extremely low at just 135 cases in 2010, marking a steady decline.
The number of cases fell across most offences from 2009-2010, with the exception of embezzlement and cheque-bounce offences.
Perhaps responsible for the overall fall in drug-related cases, the 2010 statistics show that the Drug Enforcement Department was one of the most active police bodies last year in terms of filing cases for prosecution, with 844 cases sent to the Prosecutor General – more than double that of any other department.
The North and Upper North Police Divisions filed the most prolific number of cases with the PG’s office at around 260 each, after the Southern Police division’s 437 cases.
Of the atoll police stations, Haa Dhaal Kulhudhufushi filed vastly more cases than any other police station at 574 cases, followed by Seenu Hithadhoo (444) and Seenu Gan (391).
According to the police statistics, stations at Hulhumeedhoo, Rathafandhoo, Faresmaathoda, Guraidhoo, Rasdhoo, Dhuvaafaru, Milandhoo and Hanimaadhoo did not log a single case in 2010.
Crime reported in Male’ was split evening cross the main districts, however at 36 percent of cases Heniveru was recorded as the most crime afflicted.
Most arrests made across the Maldives in 2010 were for drug offences (1153), assault (941) and theft (773), and most of these were first time offenders.
The bulk of those arrested were young men aged between 17-23, while key crimes committed by minors (aged under 18) were assault, theft and drug offences – albeit with an overall decline in 2010 on 2009.
Interestingly, only 138 women were arrested in 2010 compared with nearly 4000 men – 3.5 percent of arrests made. 42 of these women were arrested for ‘sexual offences’.
Overall conviction rates appeared rather low – of the 17854 cases closed, 3323 were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Of these 1108 were sent back, and 776 ended in convictions. Only 75 convictions were recorded from cases begun in 2010.
Read the police annual report (English)
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