Month: June 2011

Under-fire Thasmeen won’t shift 2012 congress amidst DRP reconciliation attempts

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali has questioned calls to bring forward the party’s 2012 congress amidst initiatives designed to end infighting between his own supporters and those of his predecessor, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Amidst an escalating tensions between Thasmeen and former President Gayoom – the DRP’s honorary leader – a group of party councillors have moved to form committees to try and reconcile divisions that have occurred between the two figures.

Party members critical of Thasmeen’s leadership have said they hope that any potential reconciliation will resolve concerns regarding what they see as the serving DRP head’s failure to adhere to the party’s charter on a number of issues such as dismissing former party member Umar Naseer.

Thasmeen told Minivan News today that from his perspective, he welcomed the possibility of dialogue that served to “strengthen” the party, having nominated three persons to represent him as a committee. The DRP leader added that Gayoom had appointed representatives of his own to take part in the ongoing discussions, which he claimed remained at an early stage and had yet to deal with the key “issues” that had led to divides in the party.

“The talks have not gone far, yet if any good can come of them [for the party], I would welcome that,” he said. “It is too early to say what sort of outcome we are expecting and we would like to see how talks proceed before we make any prejudgments in the media.”

The DRP head added that despite welcoming the talks, he would not concede to calls from some MPs to bring forward the party’s scheduled 2012 congress or hold an extraordinary meeting concerning topics like his leadership. In the last party congress held back in 2010, Thasmeen was anointed by Gayoom as party leader and elected unopposed – the honorary leader’s support has since been revoked on the back of apparent professional animosity between the two men.

“President Gayoom has suggested bringing forward the party congress. Now I have my opinions on this, but I would rather not say them right now,” he said. “The DRP constitution says that a congress should be held in 2012, so why is there a need for this to happen sooner?”

Thasmeen claimed additionally that certain party members had been using the media to attack and cause further divisions within the party and that he wished to avoid making any comments that exacerbated the present situation.

Thasmeen criticism

Ahmed Nihan, a DRP MP allied to a spin-off faction of the party known as the Zaeem-DRP (Z-DRP), which supports Gayoom and dismissed Deputy Leader Umar Naseer in their criticism of Thameen’s leadership, said that a “lot of effort” was taken by general members and councillors to try and bridge divisions within the party.

Nihan said that he rejected the label of the Z-DRP and its description as a political faction as a media invention, adding that initiatives were being taken to resolve differences within the party between Thasmeen and Gayoom, including ending a boycott of DRP council meetings.

“We are still members of the DRP and I have the same rights as anyone else to speak my mind. We are a democratic party,” he said. “As of last night, we have agreed to attend the party’s council for the first time in months and sit down with [Thasmeen].”

According to Nihan, the key objectives for supporters of the so-called Z-DRP movement were to call on Thasmeen to run the party under the rules outlined under the DRP’s charter, something he alleged has not been the case at a time. He claimed this was unfortunate at a time when opposition parties needed to be working closer together to oppose the government.

In outlining areas about Thasmeen’s leadership that concerned him, Nihan claimed that not all had been bought to the attention of the public as yet.

“There are a lot of things Thasmeen has done that we haven’t revealed to the media. These relate not only to Umar [Naseer’s] dismissal, but actions taken afterwards,” he said. “He has tried to expel members of the party who do not agree with his rule. Being the leader he should think of the wellbeing of the party.@

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51 year-old arrested for allegedly molesting nine year-old

A 51 year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting a nine year old girl in Addu Atoll, reports Sun online.

Sun reported that police told the paper that the man will be summoned to court to extend his detention.

The paper also reported that the man was unknown to the girl’s family.

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Filadhoo councilor files suit for unfair dismissal after blowing whistle on bestiality

Head of Filadhoo Council in Haa Alif Atoll Mohamed Vijan, who was recently dismissed, has filed a lawsuit against the island council claiming that his dismissal was unlawful.

He told the media that the no-confidence vote taken against him was not conducted accordingly to the law.

The council forwarded a no-c0nfidence motion against Vijan after he told local media some islanders were committing bestiality with goats and that the owner of the goats had complained to the council.

The council dismissed his allegations as an attempt to give the island a bad reputation and filed the no-confidence vote.

The day after media reported on the issue, the goats were found killed.

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MP Sameer takes MDP parliamentary group leader role: Haveeru

MP Ahmed Sameer will succeed ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik as the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) parliamentary group leader, according to local media reports.

Haveeru has said that Sameer, who serves as the MP for Dhidhoo, Haa Alifu Atoll, was appointed to the position yesterday, despite earlier reports that an election was to be held for the post on Wednesday June 22.

The position of MDP parliamentary group leader was left vacant after Moosa Manik was appointed to serve as the party’s acting chairperson during a national council meeting held at Bandos Island Resort over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the MDP was unavailable for comment on the news of Sameer’s appointment at the time of going to press.

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Quarter of all parliament sittings disrupted, report finds

A quarter of all parliamentary sittings last year were terminated due to disruption, a report into the legislature’s performance last year by Transparency Maldives (TM) has found.

The Parliament Watch report, produced with UNDP support, draws on attendance and voting data obtained from the parliament secretariat.

Attendance data shows that shows that 22 MPs were absent for 35 sittings of parliament – more than a third of the total number held.

In addition to the four months of recess, 13 MPs took casual leave for 58 days – almost two months – while 20 MPs took 38 days leave. Only seven of the 77 MPs attended all sittings of parliament.

Notable absentees included Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ali Mohamed, who was absent for 52 consectutive votes, and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Nazim Rashaad, who missed blocks of 34 and 19 consecutive votes with only several days in between.

Independent MP Ahmed Shiyam Mohamed was among those who attended the least number of votes, and was absent for 84.

The report’s “highlights” of the first session of parliament included the dismissal of the Auditor General (and failure to approve a replacement for over a year), and the provision of Rf 2 million in media subsidies to the two wealthiest opposition-supporting private broadcasters, one of which is owned by a sitting MP.

Performance evaluation

The report also interviewed 15 MPs from a spread of parties and seven professionals from the media, civil society and legal sectors in an attempt to evaluate parliament’s performance.

It found that the strongest perceived aspect of parliament was the relative freedom MPs had “to express their opinions freely, without executive and legal interference,” although interviewees noted significant under-representation of women.

Parliament’s oversight of the executive was also highlighted for its autonomy over the government and scrutiny of appointments to executive posts, although the effectiveness of committees scored poorly.

The weakest area of parliament, TM found, was accountability, particularly the public acceptability of the procedure whereby members determined their salaries.

This was highlighted in one of parliament’s first votes of the June session, in which MPs voted against a motion to cut a controversial Rf20,000 in committee allowances – an effective 33 percent salary increase that sees Maldivian MPs earning on par with those in Sweden. A quarter of the chamber was absent during the vote.

The report highlighted oversight of party and candidate funding, procedures for preventing financial conflicts of interest, and reporting back to constituents as particular areas of weakness.

Based on its findings and interviews conducted, the report makes a number of recommendations. These include:

  • Fulfilling parliament’s constitutional obligation to publicise financial and other interests of MPs submitted to parliament. The report noted that the disclosure of such interests “should extend to the MP’s immediate children, spouse and parents”;
  • Prioritising bills of national interest, as bills vital to the state and preservation of justice, such as the evidence bill, right to information bill, political parties bill, penal code bill and drugs bill “remain stagnated at committee stage”;
  • Incentivising MPs to consult their constituencies, as despite allowances paid for such, “few MPs – if any – operate offices”;
  • Assessing the financial and governance impact of bills before they were passed, as bills such as the Public Finance Act and Decentralisation Act contained conflicting clauses;
  • Increasing the participation of women in parliament so as to ensure a balanced gender perspective;
  • Developing the infrastructure and human resource capacity of the secretariat, both of which were insufficient, as were the quality of documentation produced and its accessibility.~

Read the full Parliament Watch report

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Parliament rejects Strike Act

The parliament has voted to reject the Strike Act presented by Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed, which significantly narrowed the right to strike.

The bill – heavily weighted in favour of employers – was recently sent to the National Security Committee which recommended it be rejected and presented again after major amendments.

Out of 72 MPs present 67 voted in favor of rejecting the bill, while three MPs voted in support of the controversial bill. One MP did not vote on either side.

Jumhoree Party (JP) MP and resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim and Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan voted in favour of the Strike Act – as surprisingly, did Ahmed Easa, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP and former President of the Tourism Employment Association of Maldives (TEAM), which was at the forefront of campaigning against it.

Easa was not responding to calls at time of press, however Vice President of TEAM Mauroof Zakir suggested that “maybe [Easa] knew it would be rejected. Maybe it was a political thing, or a deal with Gasim.”

The Strike Act as proposed by the DQP bans employees from conducting a strike without obtaining a written document from the employer permitting the strike if it is to be conducted on the work site.

The Act permits employers to discontinue providing food and accommodation to any employee that continues a strike for more than 12 hours – most resorts provide food and accommodation to workers – and gives employers the authority to order strikers off the property (or the island) if the strike continues for more than 24 hours.

Strikes would furthermore be conducted during a time between 6:00am and 8:00pm, according to the act, employers had the right to be notified about any planned strikes 48 hours prior to commencement.

The bill also gives employers the right to cut salaries and allowances for the duration of time the employees have not worked, and the right to dismiss the staff for striking. It also gives employers the right to obtain a court warrant to stop an unlawful strike.

Speaking on the bill during the parliament sitting, MDP MP Mohamed Musthafa said he was grateful for the recommendation made by the committee to reject the bill.

He added that it was a constitutional right to strike and that there were more sophisticated policies used in other countries to manage strikes and to solve such disputes. He called on MPs to research these policies before presenting such bills.

Despite voting in favour of the Strike Act, Nihan told the chamber it was a constitutional right to strike and express opinions, and that people should be able to exercise this right whenever they wanted to.

Gasim argued that he saw no reason why parliament should reject the bill, which he claimed would benefit the society and and the economy.

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Abandoned baby discovered inside garage in Thinadhoo

An islander on Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll today discovered an abandoned newborn baby inside a garage this morning.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed the incident occurred and said the police were currently trying to trace the baby’s mother.

‘’It was a male baby and he was in a good condition when found,’’ Shiyam said. ‘’So far no arrests have been made.’’

Shiyam said the investigation was still on going and details would be revealed later.

Local media reported that the baby was admitted to Thinadhoo hospital and that an anonymous woman had phoned the hospital and claimed the baby.

However, later there was no sign of her and the authorities have not yet revealed if she has been found or if the caller was traced.

On May 5 a dead infant was found in a plastic bag in the swimming track area of Male’. A medical examination later concluded that the baby had sustained cuts, bruises and other wounds.

On May 21, the corpse of a premature baby boy was discovered inside a Coast Milk tin on the island of Villingli.

Police Sub-Inspector Shiyam at the time told told Minivan News that the dead child, believed by forensic examiners to have been born three months premature, was discovered in a discarded container near the power house area of the island.

On May 22, the body of a newborn baby boy discovered in a park in Hulhumale’ was found with underwear tied tightly around his neck.

Spokesperson for Hulhumale’ Hospital Dr Ahmed Ashraf said the baby may have died from asphyxiation.

‘’When the baby was found the knot was a bit loose, but the marks on its neck shows that it was tied tightly around the neck,’’ Dr Ashraf said, regarding that incident.

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IFM organising ”greatest enemy” sermon

The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) has said it is organising a lecture by Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed Ahmed at Artificial Beach, entitled the ‘Greatest Enemy’.

The sermon will be delivered on Friday July 8 at 8:45pm, the IFM said.

”IFM activists have begun working on  the lecture and activities are underway to prepare the advertisement banners. A total of 47 banners will be put up at different locations in Malѐ, Villimalѐ and Hulhumalѐ,” said the IFM.

”More activities are expected to commence on the return of Ibrahim Fauzee, the organisation’s president who is currently in Malaysia participating in the International Da’wah Training Programme.”

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