Day: July 17, 2011

DRP-PA split could see rise of new opposition majority

The decision by the People’s Alliance (PA) to split from the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) could redraw the political boundaries in parliament.

The PA decided on July 13 to break the longstanding coalition agreement, with the backing of DRP MPs loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom collectively known as the party’s Z-faction.

“I believe it is a good move. Since Ahmed Thasmeen Ali’s leadership there has been no cooperation with the PA,” said Z-DRP MP Ahmed Mahlouf. “Nothing has been done with the PA for the past two years – they were just told how to vote.”

Mahlouf told Minivan News that 11 of the party’s MPs last night met with the opposition-aligned Jumhoree Party (JP), the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) and an independent MP “to discuss how to move forward.”

Parliamentary procedure prevented the disaffected MPs from forming a new party, Mahlouf claimed, but he speculated that the MPs would potentially leave the main opposition and operate either as independents, or join one or other of the opposition aligned parties, and had discussed the appointment of a parliamentary group leader.

If that scenario were to happen, the DRP would be reduced to 13-15 MPs and Thasmeen would no longer be minority opposition leader, as the the new opposition PA-JP-DQP alliance would number 21-22 MPs.

Asked whether this move would leave Thasmeen open to cooperation with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Mahlouf alleged that “Thasmeen and [Speaker] Abdulla Shahid have already been helping President Mohamed Nasheed for two years. The separation won’t change that.”

“I don’t think he will join them though – Thasmeen will want to run in the Presidential elections,” Mahlouf predicted.

The MPs affiliated with the Z-DRP include Ilham Ahmed, Ahmed Mahlouf, Ahmed Nihan, Ali Arif, Abdul Muhsin Hameed, Dr Afrashim Ali, Hamdhoon Hameed, Yousuf Naeem and Mohamed Rafeeq Hassan.

Mahlouf noted that joining another party would also involving discussing potential Presidential candidates once the party lines were redrawn.

Addressing concerns raised yesterday by DRP MP Abdulla Mausoom – that the representation of constituents in strong DRP areas such as Laamu Atoll who elected opposition coalition MPs would effectively become PA electorates – Mahlouf said that such islands “voted for the PA because President Gayoom asked them to do it. Even now Zaeem is with the PA, they are working together. Voters in Laamu didn’t vote for Thasmeen – they voted for Gayoom.”

The redrawing of party lines will likely affect the controversial compromise on the composition of committees, which led to fistfights in parliament last week.

Article 101(b) of the parliamentary rules of procedure states the number of MPs each party has “should be taken as the basis” for determining the composition of committees.

The DRP-PA coalition, with 39 percent of seats in parliament, were therefore entitled to four seats in each of the 11-member standing committees.

The rules also states that Independent MPs should be given equal opportunity to select a committee of their preference.

Meanwhile, a statement released by PA yesterday notes that the proposal to break the coalition agreement was put forward by members of the parliamentary group.
“Following discussion on the issue by the PA council, as the DRP leadership elected during its 2010 congress has not given priority to adhering to the coalition agreement, the council members noted three main points,” it reads.

The PA council accused the DRP leadership of not putting “a substantial effort into maintaining the DRP-PA coalition” and failing to adhere to “the spirit of the [coalition] agreement.”

Moreover, the DRP leadership did not “take initiative for the many efforts needed to hold the government accountable” while also not supporting or backing “the efforts of other opposition parties.”

It adds that DRP Leader Thasmeen did not adequately shoulder responsibility and take initiative as befits the majority leader of parliament when the opposition coalition controlled a narrow majority.

“PA council members also took note of the serious divisions within DRP and the failure to resolve the disputes as well as splits between DRP members in parliament and the failure to appropriately enforce the party’s whip line,” the party said.

The PA observed that “as a result of matters deteriorating to the point where DRP MPs cannot communicate with the leadership,” the party doubted that it could “perform the hard and noble work” of holding the government accountable.

The PA council members further noted that “senior figures of the Z-DRP faction that works closely with the PA” had urged the minority opposition to split with the DRP.

Following a compromise reached over the revised constitution of standing committees, DRP Deputy Leader Ilham Ahmed, affiliated with the Z-faction, publicly called on the PA to sever ties with the main opposition party.

DRP Leader Thasmeen acknowledged to Haveeru today that the decision would weaken the opposition, and said that “both sides failed to comply with the agreement.”

“I don’t think dissolving the agreement would make much of a difference now. As far as I’ve noticed, both sides failed to keep up with the agreement,” Haveeru reported Thasmeen as saying.

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Government pursues Sri Lanka currency exchange as devaluation deadline passes

Maldivian financial authorities are reportedly in negotiations with Sri Lanka to try and establish a currency swap mechanism in an effort to stabilise the value of the rufiya against the US dollar – a move opposition MPs claim is at best, a short-term relief.

Sources linked to the country’s financial sector have told Minivan News that a deal between the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka was “in the pipeline” in order to try and create a system for a direct exchange between the rufiya and the Sri Lankan rupee.

Mahmood Razee, the Maldives’ Economic Development Minister, did confirm that talks were taking place over a possible exchange movement with Sri Lanka, reflecting the government’s intentions to try and stabilise the local currency against high demand for the dollar.

While claiming to welcome government initiatives for economic stabilisation, a spokesperson for the opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) said that although a currency exchange may provide “short-term” relief for dollar demand, the government would be required to show shrewd financial management to maintain confidence in the rufiya in the long run.

Income aims

The currency swap is the latest development in the government’s plan to boost income of foreign money that has maintained a lucrative blackmarket for the US dollar in the country. Three months ago, the government began pursuing a controversial plan to devalue the rufiya. The local currency, which was pegged at an exchange rate of 12.85 to the dollar since July 2001, was this year amended to within 20 percent of this figure to try and bridge a limited national supply of foreign money in circulation.

The devaluation stance was welcomed at the time by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yet was domestically met with derision by opposition politicians and a week of public protests across the capital during April over fears about the resultant rises in living costs.

Despite accusing certain opposition parliamentarians of manipulating protests and media coverage for their own political gain, financial authorities requested patience for three months for the dollar demand and supply to stabilise – a deadline that passes this month.

With local news reports  claiming the local currency was trading at up to Rf16.5 to the dollar on the country’s black-market, Mahmood Razee said at the time that authorities could consider additional support measures such as currency exchanges if its stabilisation aims were not met.

While discussions are said to have been ongoing for sometime over trying to establish methods to exchange currencies with other nations, a report in the Pakistan Observer newspaper today cited Razee as claiming discussions were very much continuing between finance heads in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

However, a source with knowledge of the discussions who wished to remain anonymous told Minivan News that “figures” at the very top level of the MMA were involved in ongoing talks with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to provide a currency exchange system.

Talking to Minivan News today, Razee confirmed that talks were ongoing, though he said he was unsure as to what stage they had currently reached. The economic development minister claimed that although the currency exchange talks had begun before the decision to devalue the rufiya, he added that it did form part of the government’s response for trying to balance local dollar demand.

However, with the initial three-month target period to introduce economic stabilisation now passed, Razee said that he believed the finance ministry was limited at present in terms of additional support measures that could be introduced to the economy, particularly during the low-tourism season and its impact on government earnings.

“At present, I’m not so sure the Ministry of Finance will be able to undertake any urgent [new] measures to ensure stabilisation,” he said. “It would be more difficult at the moment to introduce these measures due to the low tourism season.”

Since January this year, the government had pledged to try and balance its books with a focus on generating direct revenue through the gradual introduction of taxation schemes. These schemes have included a Business Profit Tax scheduled to be launched this week for higher income enterprise and the tourism Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced over the new year.

DRP Spokesperson Ibrahim ‘Mavota’ Shareef claimed that although the opposition party welcomed stabilisation measures from the government, it did not believe that longer-term measures had been successfully planned by authorities to bridge the dollar demand. However, Shareef said that the black market was testament to the fact that dollars did exist in the country, but that they required sufficient management to ensure they are finding their way into wider circulation.

“Any measures that encourage financial stabilisation we would welcome. This is more a national than political issue. But we do not see [stabilisation]happening yet,” he said. “If we are all spending more than we earn, especially the government, then we cannot balance the economy. These currency swaps are a short-term solution to achieve this.”

Claiming that the government had shown limited long-term measures to protect the economy, Shareef said he believed that there was a danger many local people would not want to keep savings in the form of rufiyaa as a result of “deceptive” government policy.  “When the government said that three months of the [rufiyaa float] policy would bring stabilisation people believed them,” he said.

Yet with government earnings expected to increase on the back of taxation drives, Shareef said that there were reasons to believe stabilisation was possible and that the tourism industry was a strong example of where sufficient foreign currency revenue could be generated.

“This depends though if the market is well managed. When the government first decided to manage the ruifya float [devaluing the currency against the dollar] they should have calculated the availability of foreign currency,” he said. “Dollars are clearly available on the black market and it is the duty of the government to supply them to [society].”

As such, Shareef claimed that it was therefore the government’s responsibility to have managed the devaluation “properly”, alleging that it had instead hoped for a positive outcome for finance rather than ensuring correct measures were available.

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Sheikh refuse to preach at MDP Religious Council

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Religious Council’s Chair Al-hafiz Ahmed Zaki has said that many Maldivian religious scholars were invited last night to preach in a sermon organised by the council but the sheikhs refused to show up “because it was an MDP podium”.

“The scholars have decided not to preach to MDP members to try and let others believe that MDP members belong to another religion,” Zaki said, speaking last night. “However, MDP members are all Muslims and they do want to hear religious sermons.”

Zaki speculated that the scholars refused the invitation thinking that the series of religious sermons commenced by the MDP Religious Council was politically motivated.

“The religious sermons are not only targeted solely for MDP members but for all the Maldivians,” he said.

Zaki said the result of handing over the Islamic Ministry to another political party was that the party assigned to implement the MDP manifesto in upholding religion was not implemented.

“Despite the Maldives consisting of many religious scholars, it was a big challenge that there are many scholars that refuse to preach on MDP podiums,” he said.

He urged religious scholars to preach to everyone, from the President to normal citizens.

Former President of Adhaalath Party Sheikh Hussein Rasheed told Minivan News that the Adhaalath Party has always cooperated MDP in its religious sermons.

“I don’t have any information that anyone among us received an invitation to go preach at last night’s religious sermon,” Shaikh Hussein Rasheed said. “Last year also we went to Seenu Atoll with MDP to preach, so we have always cooperated MDP in that.”

Sheikh Rasheed said that the reason why scholars refused to preach on an MDP podium might be that scholars think it meant getting involved in politics.

“Now many of the scholars are independent and they are not involved in any political activity or political party, perhaps that’s the reason why they won’t go on sermons organised by political parties,” he said, adding that Adhaalath had “no issues” with MDP.

In November last year, former Chair of MDP Religious Council Sheikh Adam ‘B. A’ Naseem resigned claiming that he was unhappy with the party’s religious policy.

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NGO calls for inquiry into MPs’ “disgraceful behaviour”

Local NGO Maldives Centre for Human Rights and Democracy led by former Attorney General Husnu Suood has called on Speaker Abdulla Shahid to launch an inquiry into the “lowly and disgraceful behaviour” of MPs during last week’s disrupted parliament sittings.

In a letter sent to the Speaker yesterday, the NGO said that MPs “should apologise to the Maldivian people at a sitting of the People’s Majlis.”

In a number of videos uploaded to YouTube by MP Shifaq Mufeed of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), several MPs were heard using obscene language against each other.

Moreover, newspaper Haveeru journalists caught video footage of MP Ahmed Mahlouf strike former opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader Ali Waheed on the back.

The NGO stated in its letter that last week’s incidents had not only harmed the standing of parliament among the public, but had “raised serious doubts” about the legitimacy of Acts of parliament and undermined public trust in the institution.

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“Dangerous criminal” acquitted of assault charges

Criminal Court yesterday acquitted Hassaan Ali, 22, from the island of Fares-Maathoda in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll, who was identified by police as a ”dangerous criminal” and charged with assault by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO).

The accused faced charges of allegedly assaulting Mohamed Shuaib, Ma. Shady Cabin, on August 12, 2008.

According to the Criminal Court, none of the witnesses presented by the prosecution testified that they saw Hassaan commit the assault.

Hassaan was accused of stabbing Shuaib in the neck with a bayonet knife.

The Court ruled that the PGO had not submitted sufficient evidence or witnesses statements to prove that Hassaan was guilty of the crime.

Hassaan had meanwhile denied the charges in court.

According to police records, Hassaan had previously been arrested 13 times for offences ranging from violent assault to robbery, with two cases forwarded to the PGO.

In March this year, Hassaan was arrested again during a special operation conducted to avoid potential clashes between rival gangs following the fatal stabbing of 21 year-old Ahusan Basheer.

After holding the “dangerous suspect” in pretrial detention for several days, Hassaan was released by the Criminal Court to house arrest. However he was arrested again shortly afterward.

The Criminal Court at the time extended his detention for three days, and after keeping Hassaan in pretrial detention for a further three days, he was released by the court after denying a police request for a further extension.

However Hassaan was taken into custody on his way home from the court, who requested yet another extension of detention.

On the last occasion, the judge ordered Hassan be placed under house arrest for his alleged involvement in a fight that occurred in Boduthakurufaanu Magu on December 3, 2010.

The PG then accused Hassan of aiding the escape of assault suspect Aseel Ismail, who had allegedly attacked Rilwan Faruhath with a machete.

In April this year, police publicised criminal records of 17 persons taken into custody and identified as “dangerous criminals.” The list includes Rilwan and Aseel as well. All 17 suspects have been arrested on average more than 10 to 15 times.

While the court has acquitted Hassan yesterday, he remains in remand custody until the trials of his pending cases could be conducted.

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Police discover empty alcohol bottles in garbage truck

Police discovered a number of empty bottles of alcohol today in a pickup carrying garbage to the dump site in Male’.

Sun Online reports that police were tipped off by a member of the public and discovered the empty bottles after searching the vehicle.

A police spokesperson declined to reveal the number of bottles found or where the pickup had been loaded.

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State withdraws three witnesses in “Redwave” Saleem corruption trial

The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) today withdrew three of its four witnesses in the corruption case against MP Ahmed “Redwave” Saleem, who is facing charges of conspiracy to defraud the former Atolls Ministry in the purchase of mosque sound systems.

The alleged corruption was uncovered in the audit report of the now defunct Atolls Ministry released in 2009. Saleem was former director of finance at the ministry.

Following a police investigation requested by the Presidential Commission, the PGO charged Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim, MP Saleem and former Atolls Minister Abdulla Hameed with three counts of conspiracy to defraud, abuse of power and violation of the state finance and asset regulations.

Local daily Haveeru reports that the three witnesses withdrawn by the state were minority opposition Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Deputy Leader Abdulla Matheen, Abdulla Hameed and Ahmed Aseeth.

Saleem meanwhile proposed as his witnesses three former employees of the Atolls Ministry.

According to the law, MPs convicted for a sentence exceeding one year would automatically be stripped of their seat.

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Landhoo women hijack island council over non-payment of dues

Women from the island of Landhoo in Noonu Atoll have hijacked the island council office in protest of non-payment of dues owed for sweeping and cleaning the island.

Sun Online reports that about 50 women entered the administrative office and locked it at about 3:30pm today.

Landhoo Council Chair Mohamed Fayaz said that the disgruntled women appeared unlikely to leave the office.

The women claim that the council office owed them Rf19,000 (US$1,479) per month for the past six months. The decision to lock the council office was made after the national administrative office failed to come up with the money after promising to make the funds available within a week.

Councillor Fayaz meanwhile said that the women had informed him that they would only leave once the administrative office gave them assurances and “a guaranteed date for payment.”

In a similar incident, women from the island of Isdhoo-Kalhaidhoo in Laamu Atoll had protested the non-payment of dues last week.

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Mega Maldives completes maiden flight to Shanghai

Maldivian flag carrier Mega Maldives has completed its maiden flight from Shanghai to Male, the first Maldivian carrier to make the journey.

The flight landed at 12:50pm on Saturday with 200 passengers. Mega Maldives claims it is the only such service from China to arrive in the daytime, allowing more convenient connections to resorts by domestic air and sea transfer.

Mega completed its first international flight between Hong Kong and Gan in January this year, delivering over 230 passengers to resorts in the southern atolls.

It now employs over 100 Maldivian staff and plans to launch a non-stop flights between Beijing and Male’ on July 22 and a fourth route, Male’ to Seoul, Korea, in September, with the lease of a second aircraft.

Mega Maldives Airlines is a source of great pride to the island Republic of Maldives, as we carry the national flag and the Maldivian brand globally, leading the drive in the on-going development of Maldivian aviation, tourism and trade,” the airline said in a statement.

Mega has capitalised on the booming tourism market in China, and the keen interest displayed in the Maldives as a destination by Chinese charter companies.

Speaking to Minivan News in January following the airline’s maiden flight the airline’s CEO George Weinmann, a former rocket and satellite engineer with aerospace giant Boeing, said it was a mistake to think that the boom in Chinese tourist arrivals was an anomaly.

The belief, persistent among some resort operators, perhaps stems from the trend among many Chinese guests to stay 2-3 days, while their European counterparts log an average of 10-14 days per visit.

“I don’t agree with that idea at all,” says Weinmann. “It’s a little like going back to the 1950s and saying that while the US is making a resurgence, Europe is still the place to be.”

The Chinese, he said, had become one of the biggest-spending tourism demographics in destinations such as France, with a per-person spend “substantially higher that most other [nationalities] visiting the EU. That was not a fluke – it was developed over five years.”

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