Month: June 2011

Parliament appoints local business tycoon to judicial watchdog

Parliament has narrowly voted MP for Maamigili Gasim Ibrahim as its representative on the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the commission tasked with overseeing the country’s judiciary.

38 members of of the 77 member parliament voted in favour of Gasim, while 36 voted against him. The other candidate for the position, former Chairperson of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Mariya Ahmed Didi, narrowly missed the required votes with 36 MPs in favour of her appointment and 37 against.

Gasim is a well-known business tycoon, media owner and leader of the opposition-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP). He was last year accused by the government of treason and bribery after phone calls of his conversations with People’s Alliance MP and the former President’s half-brother Abdulla Yameen were leaked to the media.

Gasim will replace DRP MP Dr Afrashim Ali on the JSC, after Afrashim was dismissed by parliament 38-34 in favour earlier this week amid claims of misconduct and corruption.

Former President’s Member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Aishath Velezinee described Gasim’s appointment to the JSC as “the worst thing that could possibly have happened. It means nothing will be looked at, and I expect [the JSC] will become worse than ever. I can already hear the judges celebrating.”

Gasim, Velezinee said, “is a man of wealth, and every seat he has ever sat on has benefited him. We can expect the same from the JSC. I don’t think anyone is under any other impression – there is no comparison between Mariya and Gasim in terms of legal knowledge and integrity. The people’s representatives have sold out to the devil, and this is a very sad day.”

DRP Deputy Leader Ibrahim Shareef said he felt that Gasim “has the experience, wisdom and the capacity face the challenges.”

“What is required is sincerity. We need to build a judiciary that is competent, efficient and capable of delivering justice,” Shareef said.

Asked whether Gasim’s extensive business interests could prove a potential conflict of interest when overseeing the Maldivian justice system, Shareef said “that is a real possibility. I think the judiciary must be totally free from political influence. We have to see how this unfolds – this is a small country and it is hard to have complete impartiality.”

Gayoom thanks MPs

Following Afrashim’s removal from the JSC on Monday, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom publicly thanked DRP MPs for voting in Afrashim’s favour.

“Afrashim was the front man for what went on in JSC. It wasn’t him alone, but he was the front man,” said Velezinee, who contends that the opposition had used its parliamentary majority to control the JSC, subvert Article 285 of the Constitution and reappoint the judges handpicked by the former administration.

One result of this, Velezinee said, was the impossibility of prosecuting any instance of serious drug crime in the Criminal Court. She referred to a decision made yesterday by Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed to throw out charges of drug trafficking against two businessmen for lack of evidence, after more than a kilogram of narcotics was found in the trunk of one of their cars.

“The evidence that the JSC has hidden away suggests that Abdulla Mohamed is under the influence of senior politicians and businessmen alleged to be involved in serious crime, and the decisions of the criminal court gives every reason to believe this is true. The JSC is acting unlawfully by not forwarding this to the relevant authority,” she claimed.

Afrashim had sat on the committee charged with investigating Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, formed on December 30, 2009.

“Until the day I left the JSC we had no reports on the progress of the investigation,” Velezinee said, “despite the fact that the JSC Act states that a written report must be submitted every 30 days for every investigation.”

Velezinee observed that the opposition’s factional battle was laid aside in its efforts to save Afrashim during Monday’s vote.

“The factionalisation of the DRP was forgotten. They all joined together. In my mind there is now no doubt that there was a silent coup, and Gayoom’s coming out and thanking the MPs is as much a confession to being the leader. I cannot imagine this happening in any developed country, there would have been riots.”

Velezinee’s concerns about the independence of the JSC appeared vindicated with the publication of a report on the Maldivian judiciary by the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ).

“How often do ordinary Maldivians look to the courts for justice? Is there a sense that ‘We [Maldivians] have an independent judiciary that is capable of resolving problems?’ I think the answer is no,” surmised Roger Normand, Director of the ICJ’s Asia Pacific operations at the time of the report’s publication.

Velezinee claimed the JSC had routinely doctored information given to international groups such as the ICJ who were unable to interpret the original Dhivehi documents.

“No international organisation or authority would believe that such an institution would be handing out doctored documents and changing their minutes. I have seen shocking things. But when I speak of them, I am the one labelled a fool. I have a different view to rest of the country because I sat in a seat not accessible to anyone else, and witnessed this happening.”

Parliament’s dismissal of Afrashim on Monday on grounds of misconduct had raised the possibility that Article 285 could be revisited, Velezinee said.

“The JSC Act states that if any member of the JSC has acted outside conduct in any decision making, that decision must be revisited – but that’s for the JSC to decide,” she said.

“But in this case I suspect we are in an an area not covered by the act. Parliament has found out about this, not the JSC, and the complaint has been there since February 2010.

“When parliament took the decision [to remove Afrashim], it clearly stated that Dr Afrashim acted unconstitutionally and breached trust. In that case there is good reason to demand Article 285 be readdressed. Just because a certain period has passed does not mean [the reappointments] are valid. The obligations under the Article were not fulfilled.”

It was, she said, a matter of “laying the foundation for an independent judiciary that will uphold this constitution.”

The judges reappointed by the former Ministry of Justice had been guided in passing judgements, Velezinee said – “It is clearly evident from documents we have. Many of the judges were handpicked by different ministers, who are now complaining to the press that the President is interfering in the judiciary. Their lawyers want to keep the existing bench.”

The JSC’s actions had, however, closed the bench for the next 40 years, “and that is really scary.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President asks parliament to approve Maldivian contribution to UN peacekeeping operations

Cabinet’s decision to contribute Maldivian soldiers to UN peacekeeping operations has been sent to parliament for approval.

Parliament debated the issue and decided to send the matter to the National Security Committee for review.

After an hour long debate between MPs over the issue, Maldivian Democratic Party([MDP) Parliamentary Group Leader and MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik proposed to send the matter to the National Security Committee committee, with 61 MPs voting in favor.

According to 243[b] of the constitution, ‘’if the President, as Commander in Chief, authorises or orders the employment of the military service in defence of the republic or as part of an international undertaking, the President shall without delay submit the authorization to the People’s Majlis. The People’s Majlis may at any time approve the authorisation, or revoke the authorisation.’’

Oppostion Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP with former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s faction, Ahmed Mahlouf, said the issue was concerning.

‘’This is no joke, this is a very serious issue,’’ he said. ‘’I do not think any honorable member would want to send some Maldivians abroad to their deaths.’’

Mahlouf said death was a real possibility in the peacekeeping operations. He also noted that it was possible that terrorists would target the Maldives if Maldivian soldiers were sent to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations.

Religious NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf recently called on the government to withdraw a decision made by the cabinet to send Maldivian troops to take part in UN peacekeeping operations.

Cabinet decided to finalise the participation of Maldivian soldiers, noting that it was “important for the Maldives to contribute to the efforts of these international agencies and institutions to ensure that every country, every society and every individual has the opportunity to live in peace and security.”

“Taking part in the UN peacekeeping operations will force Maldivian forces to fight against Muslims which is unacceptable,” said Salaf in the statement, opposing the decision.

”Everyone understands that the most of the wars against Muslims have been started without reasonable grounds, just because they are Muslims.”

”Muslims will be obliged to treat [the peacekeeper] as a non-Muslim in all ways, such as if dead, burying without enshrouding the body, burying the body with non-believers, and when dealing with inheritance matters the terms and condition that apply to a non-believer who dies in a war against Muslims will be applied to him,” the NGO claimed.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Mohamed Imtiyaz appointed as acting Chairperson of MDP

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has issued a statement announcing that following the resignation of the party’s Chairperson MP Mariya Didi, all her responsibilities were handed to the Deputy Chairperson Mohamed Imtiyaz.

Mariya had resigned from her post to stand as a candidate for the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) as the member representing the parliament, after DRP MP Dr Afrashim Ali was removed for misconduct.

Leader of MDP, former fisheries minister Dr Ibrahim Didi, said Mariya’s resignation was a great sacrifice to establish an independent judiciary in the Maldives.

Speaking to the press today, Didi said that within the next two months the new Chairperson of the party would be appointed after 60 days of campaigning, as granted by the party’s charter.

Maryia was not appointed as the member from the parliament to JSC, after the post was narrowly secured by Jumhooree Party (JP) Leader and MP ‘Buruma’ Gasim Ibrahim.

36 MPs voted in favor of appointing Mariya to the JSC, while 38 voted in favor of appointing Gasim to the commission from the parliament.

Mariya congratulated MP Gasim and said she hoped he would carry out his responsibilities as a member of the JSC with sincerity for the benefit of the citizens and the best interests of the nation.

She also thanked all the MPs that voted for her.

Today’s parliament session ended after MDP MPs left the parliament chamber.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said that it has become a major issue that MPs were leaving the parliament, forcing the speaker to cancel the session.

”I think MPs have to seriously think about this now,” Nihan said. ”It has become a major issue.”

Nihan said that after MDP ”bought” former DRP MP Ali Waheed, he had been “very inactive” in parliament.

”Nowadays he just roams around the parliament singing songs and often goes to the tea room. He hasn’t been doing any work at all,” Nihan said. ”However, Gasim’s appointment to the JSC is a great victory for the citizens in this delicate situation.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Comment: Salaf or democracy

The appeal of [Islamic NGO] Jamiyatul Salaf on June 12 is interesting for many reasons.

It is the first public statement by an influential organisation in the Maldives condemning democracy and political pluralism as ladini/un-Islamic and fasada/corrupt systems.

To be sure, an Islamist counter-discourse to democratisation is not new in the Maldives. It has its roots in the 2000’s.

Not one, too many

As early as July 2004, following president Gayoom’s June announcement of democratic reforms, Mauroof Hussain, now the Adaalath party’s deputy president, wrote a trenchant article decrying democracy. In the article, Hussain referred to the most influential Islamist ideologue Mawlana Abul A’la Maududi, who railed democracy as conflicting Allah’s hakimiyya/sovereignty.

To be sure, Maududi does not abandon democracy, but gives it an Islamised garb: Maududi’s ‘theodemocracy’ provides restricted popular sovereignty because the legislative function would be limited to ‘interpreting’ Islamic sources.

Sheikh Mohammed Shaheem Ali Saeed built along these lines in a 2006 book on the subject of democracy and Islam. He acknowledges democracy shares a lot of features with what he calls Islami nizam. However, he is emphatic that Islami nizam is not democracy, because the latter contradicts Allah’s hakimiyya.

In a more recent article, reacting to president Nasheed’s remarks that Maldives was a ‘liberal democracy’, Shaheem argued the Maldives constitution now provides an Islami nizam. Shaheem is quite emphatic: we now have an Islamic constitutional system.

It is worth quoting Sheikh Hussain Rasheed Ahmed response to a question on voting:

“If we [reject] voting, then we might as well [reject] all other things that we [Muslims] imitate and copy from non-Muslims. For example, minting or even printing Qur’an, or civil and infrastructure developments like building schools, universities or roads…these are worldly affairs. Those innovations depend on human needs and develop according to their knowledge and views. If a people reject such innovations, they will have to be behind others [in development]. Islam does not wish this from Muslims…the Prophet says: ‘You have better knowledge (of technical skill) in the affairs of the world’”.

Shaheem, Rasheed and Maududi go much further than Jamiyatul Salaf’s leader Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad Ibrahim in accommodating democracy. Sheikh Muhammad’s October 2008 article on Daruma magazine rejects democracy in its ‘essence’ as a system of kufr/un-Islamic. While he accepts voting in principle based on Islamic notion of shura, he has a highly restricted view on electing political leaders. Muhammad argued voting rights should be limited to a select few in the society: the ulama, followed by experts and the wise in the society.

Still in a more restrictive view of elections, jurist Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi reasoned that a caliph himself was entitled to appoint his own successor. So there was no necessity for elections for Mawardi. In our times, influential Islamist Sayyid Qutb would not accept democracy at all because it is a jahiliyya product.

Disagreeing with most of the above views, influential Islamist cleric of our times, Yusuf Qaradawi, argues democracy in its ‘essence’ is fully compatible with Islam. He denounces those who say otherwise as ignorant of Islamic teachings.

Unlike Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad Ibrahim of Salaf, for Qaradawi, everyone could, or rather should, vote to choose their leaders. Unlike Maududi and Shaheem, for Qaradawi, popular sovereignty does not conflict with God’s hakimiyya. Again, it is telling that Qaradawi is Qutb’s severest critic in the Islamist camp.

What do we make of all these different views on democracy? I leave it to the readers to make up their minds.

Hypocrisy or politics

But to come back to Jamiyatul Salaf’s Appeal, few observations:

The Appeal is indeed right in highlighting the continued failures of the authorities to address political issues such as corruption and bribery, economic crises, and social issues like violence in all its manifestations.

Islamist utopianism feeds on such failures: Gayoom’s personal dictatorship failed, and now democracy seems to be failing too. So, Islamism says: Islam huwa al-hall/Islam is the solution!

Second, it is interesting that after condemning political pluralism and democracy, Salaf at the same time is prepared to participate in pluralism and democracy: Salaf announces their work to groom an ideal presidential candidate for 2018 elections.

Although the principle of maslaha/public interest is implicit in the Appeal, one wonders why Salaf is not seeking a systemic change, instead of grooming a salih/pious Dhivehi Son (note it’s not a Daughter). Salaf’s anti-political rhetoric in condemning democracy and political pluralism is then highly questionable, if not hypocritical. Narrow politics lurks behind anti-political moralism.

Finally, in the usual binary division of ‘Muslim Maldivians’ and the jahiliyya Other (Christians, Jews and Maldivians educated in the West), Salaf projects a Maldives drifting away from Islam under the corrupting influence of the Other. But there is no any empirical evidence that the Maldivians generally have become less Islamic since democratic openings in 2004.

If anything, the Maldives seems to be undergoing an ‘Islamic awakening’ unprecedented in its entire Islamic history since 1153, thanks to the democratic freedoms. The sheer number of women adopting the veil and men sporting the beard is testament to this.

Lessons

So, the first lesson from our democratic experiment is this: whether or not democracy has delivered on other areas, it has surely freed Islam from the suffocating fist of Gayoom.

The second, more sobering, lesson is: democracy should not be taken for granted.

2018 is not an arbitrarily proposed year. It is only by 2018, Islamists foresee that sufficient numbers could be mobilized through outreach activities.

In the meantime, the ‘Call’ must go on.

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]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Gayoom praises MP support during Afrashim vote

Former Maldivian President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has issued a statement thanking MPs who supported Judicial Services Commission (JSC) member and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Afrashim Ali during a motion of no confidence that saw him removed from the judicial watchdog yesterday, according to local media.

Miadhu reported that Gayoom praised the 34 MPs who voted against removing Dr Afrashim from his post with the JSC, despite the no confidence motion passing with 38 votes in favour, claiming the Ungufaaru MP had strived to ensure “freedom and independency” in the Maldivian judiciary.

Gayoom used the statement to praise the need for independence in establishments like the judiciary that he said served as “foundations of democracy” that needed to be kept free of “undue political influence.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Rise in blackmarket exchange rate no setback for currency stability aims, claims Economic Development Minister

Two months after the government announced plans for greater economic stability by devaluing its currency against the US dollar, the Maldives’ Economic Development Minister has said increases in black market exchange rates are no setback to the country’s long-term financial aims.

Amidst local media reports that the value of the Maldivian rufiyaa – capped until April this year at Rf12.85 against the US dollar – was trading at Rf16.5 on the black market, Minister Mahmood Razee said that authorities would likely wait for an allotted three month-period to pass before considering any additional financial support measures.

Despite this approach, the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) has claimed that local enterprise is not being supported by financial institutions like banks in terms its needs – particularly for importers reliant on foreign currency to bring in goods to the market.

However, sticking to earlier estimates that the managed float of the rufiyaa within 20 percent of the 12.85 exchange would require about three months to begin to bring stability, Razee claimed that it remained too early to say if additional support measures were needed from the government to bridge the dollar supply.

“I don’t see the black-market exchange rate as a setback as it is low [tourism] season right now, meaning we are earning fewer dollars,” he said. “Now it has been a couple of months since we changed the dollar rate. When [the currency float] was announced in April we said it will take around three months to see if the rate will stabilize. We do not know yet whether there is just a dip in [dollar] supply or something else.”

When addressing potential changes already bought about to the exchange rate since the dollar float was introduced, Razee said he believed it remained too early to speculate on what longer term impacts had taken place in regards to the availability of dollars.

The Economic Development Minister added that if there were no signs of stabilisation by next month, then he expected the Ministry of Finance to begin looking at additional measures to try and bring some market stability to the economy.

“I’m not privy to the exact information on what these measures could be right now,” he said. “What we have been doing is working with national authorities in markets like India to see what means of assistance there might be.”

The rufiyaa has sat at the maximum limit of Rf15.42 following the government’s managed float of the rufiyaa within a 20 percent band.

Treasurer of the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor, told Minivan News that he believed that the managed currency float had served only to exacerbate the difficulties facing local businesses that were being given little choice other than to rely on black market exchange rates.

“The banks are not providing dollars to businesses, especially for importer and traders who are the backbone of the economy and vital to distributing goods,” he claimed. “With Ramazan ahead, we have been told that the State Trading Organisation (STO) will be providing 27 goods and commodities at stable prices, but we will have to see if this is possible.”

Adheeb claimed that in the immediate term, banks had simply not been providing additional credit lines for businesses requiring foreign currency exchanges, a demand he said that was having to be satisfied through additional financial channels.

“The solution I believe is that banks will have to provide,” he said. “Credit card payments are being settled in rifuyaa, yet many importers are not being satisfied when it comes to their own needs.”

Speaking as a private citizen Adheeb said that more changes were needed in how banks dealt with business as well as how government were looking to encourage sustainable foreign finance.

“We have seen no encouraging signs [from the float] and I don’t think this is a good policy at this time,” he said.

The MNCCI treasurer said that he believed that alongside government talk of minimum wages, it would be wise to discuss maximum wages in certain cases to try and balance national; budget more effectively.

“I don’t understand why this is a policy not being discussed,” he added.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MIRA seeking US$265,050.93 in fines and non-payment for Nasandhura Palace Hotel

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) is seeking US$265,050.93 from Galaxy Enterprises Maldives in fines and non-payments under an agreement with the Ministry of Tourism for the rent of Nasandhura Palace Hotel, reports Haveeru.

MIRA is contending that Galaxy has not paid US100,000 in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fees stipulated in the agreement, and US$65,050.93 in fines for failure to pay the rent before deadline in the second and third quarters of last year.

The Civil Court has granted Galaxy seven days to respond.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament votes to sign Rome Statute of International Criminal Court

Parliament today voted almost unanimously that the Maldives sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the founding treaty of the first permanent international court capable of trying perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Maldivian MPs voted 61 in favour of signing the statute out of 64 members present.

Chairman of Parliament’s National Security Committee, Abdulla Yameen, presented the committee’s findings stating that signing the treaty would strengthen both criminal justice in the Maldives and the country’s commitment to human rights.

“All the countries that sign the treaty believe that such cases should be looked into with an international jurisdiction,” he said.

Former President’s Member of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), Aishath Velezinee, said that accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC in the Maldives raised the possibility of taking cases to an international court when a fair trial was impossible in domestic courts.

“We have a unique situation in the Maldives,” said Velezinee, who contends that the former government’s Ministry of Justice was simply reappointed as an ‘independent’ judiciary by the politically-tainted JSC, in an ongoing effort to undermine the country’s democracy.

For this reason, she said, “Crimes [allegedly committed] by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom cannot be tried domestically. We can’t take the master before the slave and ask the slave to judge him. So where else can we go?”

Attorney General Abdulla Muiz had not responded at time of press.

The ICC’s advocacy group – the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) – on May 2 submitted a letter urging the Maldives to sign the treaty, which it claimed would “contribute toward strengthening the Asia and Pacific region’s under-represented voice at the ICC. Currently, only seven Asian states Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Timor-Leste – are member states of the Court.”

The CICC’s Asia Regional Coordinator Evelyn Balais-Serrano said at the time the letter was sent that the decision would represent “a strong desire to be part of the international community’s collective efforts towards international justice”, and “signals its resolve to move forward in its goal of ending impunity locally and globally.”

Internationally, 114 states have ratified or acceded to the treaty, and 139 are signatories. According to the CICC, the ICC’s mandate stipulates that the Court will only intervene if national legal systems are “unable or unwilling” to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Six pending investigations before the court include investigations in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur, the Sudan, Kenya, Libya and Uganda. Three trials are ongoing, and 15 arrest warrants have been issued.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Afrashim’s dismissal highlights JSC composition concerns: DRP deputy

A Parliamentary decision passed yesterday by 38 votes to 34 to remove Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Dr Afrashim Ali from the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) raises further questions over the watchdog’s impartiality and reliance on political appointees, Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef has claimed.

Shareef, a DRP Deputy Leader, told Minivan News that he believed the no confidence motion against Afrashim, forwarded by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP “Reeko” Moosa Manik, was an “alarming” move by the government that was passed with “no valid reason”.

“If anyone elected to a position is not doing a job properly and perhaps there are more competent people who can do better, then [the removal] wouldn’t be a problem,” he claimed. “However, the MDP reason [for the vote] is not based on this. The government wants to use the JSC as a vehicle for [its own interests].”

The composition of the JSC, which serves as a watchdog for the country’s judiciary, was criticised by one independent judicial review body for failing to ensure transparency in its workings.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has maintained that although it was not illegal to rely on mostly political appointees as opposed to judicial and legal figures to oversee a national legislative watchdog, it was perceived as “bad practice”.

Criticisms of the JSC have also come from within the body itself by a former member selected by President Mohamed Nasheed. Presidential appointee Aishath Velezinee served as a whistle-blower by forwarding allegations of what she called a “silent coup” taking place in the JSC against the government.

Shareef said that he personally held concerns about relying on political figures to serve as JSC appointees when it came to overseeing the country’s courts, despite the process being constitutionally mandated.

“The fact that political appointees are allowed onto the body is not the best for the JSC. I myself have raised the wisdom [of allowing this],” he said. “In my view the JSC should be made up of members of the judiciary. However [composition requirements] are outlined in the constitution and we have to live with that.”

With the removal by parliamentary vote of Dr Afrasheem from his JSC post, Shareef claimed it remained vital to try and ensure the government did not have the ability to potentially “threaten the judiciary” with political appointments to the JSC.

“We [the political opposition] have lost representation on the body and we need a voice,” he said.

With the president entitled under the constitution to appoint a member of his own choice to the body – a position formerly held by Aishath Velezinee before she was dismissed with presidential praise last month – Shareef said he believed the opposition should be allowed a similar appointment.

“The opposition should be given the opportunity to appoint a representative itself to allow for equilibrium in the JSC,” he claimed.

ICJ view

The ICJ said it could not be commenting on Afrashim’s dismissal without additional details.

However, a spokesperson for the ICJ said previous reports on the Maldives had raised issues regarding the composition of the JSC relating to the number of political appointments made to the body compared to legislative and judicial figures.

“[Political representation] was identified as a key issue [by the ICJ] at the time in preventing the JSC from acting in an independent way,” said the spokesperson. “We are in no doubt that this current JSC has had no success in trying to bring about independence in the judiciary. We are not blaming any individual for this, but the JSC is not acting as it should be.”

As a matter outlined under the country’s constitution, the ICJ source said that the organisation accepted that changing such a system and finding a solution was difficult.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)